Someone’s found a body at Pohakuloa, the army’s live-fire training area. Bearing all the marks of ancient ritual sacrifice—the murder is the grisliest of Detective Koa Kane’s career. The bizarre case draws Koa deep into his own Hawaiian roots. As Koa probes the victim’s past, he must sort through a rich roster of suspects—grave robbers, native activists, thieves, and star gazers. Koa surmounts a … a host of obstacles as he pursues the murderer—an incompetent local medical examiner, hostility from haoles (Westerners) and sovereignty advocates, and myriad lies. Did the victim stumble upon a gang of high-tech archaeological thieves? Or did he learn a secret so shocking it cost him his life and put others, too, in mortal danger? Will Hilo’s most respected native detective catch this fiend in time, or will the killer strike again—with even deadlier consequences?
more
Robert McCaw’s first book in the Koa Kane series introduces an engaging detective with a dark secret that if disclosed would wreck his career, if not his life. It’s a great setup for a book which presents an enthralling view of Hawaiian life, with a plot line that combines ancient burial sites, ritual killings, and Star Wars technology at the renowned Mauna Kea astronomy observatories. A perfect melding of space age technology and age-old culture. The action moves along smoothly, Detective Koa is a vulnerable but appealing protagonist, and fascinating details about Hawaiian life and culture are seamlessly woven into the thriller action.
A highly enjoyable story which is refreshingly informative about a location that is not so commonly featured in detective series. It might be a bit of a cliche to say that the city of Hilo on the Big Island and its geology and native traditions are an important character in the story, but I found the well-rendered setting as appealing as the action. Robert McCaw talks more about his work in an interview on The Joys of Binge Reading podcast.
314 pages
4 and 1 / 2 stars
Detective Koa Kane, complete with his own demons, is called to the scene of a horrible death and mutilation in a lava tube on a live fire range that belongs to the military. The scene is very odd. With the help of local archeologist Jimmy Hikorea, they examine the body and explore the cave. It turns out to be much larger than they thought and with some very interesting finds in it – including some high tech surveillance equipment. Could it be that the man ran afoul of some artifact thieves?
The incompetent, arrogant “baby doctor” coroner makes some sweeping declarations about the death. Fortunately, Koa has a military pathologist to clear up the facts.
Meanwhile he is dealing with anxiety over his impending surgery on his neck. He must have it done or lose his feeling in one of his arms. He hates getting “older.” (Don’t we all.) And his is only in his 40’s.
When Koa begins his investigation he isn’t yet aware that he is in for a crash course in grave robbing, antiquities sales on the black market and murder. Some people he would less suspect turn out to be into the illegal activity.
This book is steeped in native Hawai’ian folklore. I really liked the “old tales” and I found the discussion of lava tubes fascinating. This book is very well written and jam packed with information the reader gets to learn along the way to discovering what happened to the murdered man. Although I’ve never been to Hawai’i, I felt like I was there with the lush scenery and the exploding volcanoes. (/shiver.) I liked Koa and his friends I met along the way to his solving this case. This is my first Robert McCaw novel and I immediately went to Amazon to look for other books written by him.
I want to thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this very interesting book for me to read, enjoy and review.