A hike in the mountains near Kailua leads to the chance discovery of the key to a long buried family secret that sets in motion a series of events involving young misfits, rich artifact collectors, drug dealers and successful suburbanites, all of whom engage in a race to solve a century-and-a-half old mystery. The story presents a wide variety of characters, from a shy young woman tormented by the ghost of a lost child, a young man overcome with guilt about the death of his mother, a tough local boy on his way up in the criminal world, a successful older couple for whom the limits of achievement become a problem, to a warped, lethal, former street person with his own unique sense of vengeance, to a coke-snorting antiques and art collector who places the works of humans above the human race itself. Their quest for the prize changes the lives of all of them, and creates a lean, fast-moving story that accelerates in pace and dramatic tension to the end.
Author: Ian Macmillan