An explosive sea adventure of intrigue set in the early twentieth century in French Polynesia. It's 1921 Mexico. Ne'er-do-well sea captain Dugger and his sardonic friend Nello break out of jail and set sail for a new beginning in Tahiti. Aboard are two mysterious passengers: a beautiful escapee from an Irish convent, searching for her twin brother; and a French master spy, hunting the leader of an anticolonial rebellion. But both are searching for more than they admit to-both have enormous secrets of the heart. After a hurricane-battered sea voyage, Gauguin's beguiling Tahitian daughter pilots them through a mountainous jungle of recent infanticide and cannibalism. Aiding the rebels, they provoke the French navy's unleashed revenge in a breathtaking chase through violent black squalls and treacherous reefs. Friendship, love, loyalty, and faith are in a crucible. The exhilarating quest unravels amid the uprising of a doomed culture and the startling convergence of the characters' destinies.

FERENC MATE was born in Hungary, escaped at the age of eleven, and has lived in Budapest, Vienna, Vancouver, Laguna Beach, New York, Paris and Rome. He is the author of 15 books translated into 14 languages, including New York Times Notable Book A Vineyard in Tuscany and the Dugger/Nello historical sea adventure fiction series. He lives with his family tending their vines and olives in the hills of Tuscany.