Travel writing is generally thought of as belonging to the realm of non-fiction; but every now and then, a novel comes along that immerses the reader in a locale as well as or better than a travel book could. Fatal Paradiseis that kind of novel.
It is a travelogue about Kauai and a vacation trip involving hiking, camping and other holiday activities.  But it is a travelogue replete with murder, kidnapping, a conspiracy that would poison and kill the island's enchantment, and a true-life disaster -- Hurricane Iniki, record-breaking winds and a storm surge as strong as a tsunami -- that takes over the last third of the book.  But in addition to mystery and adventure on the beaches of Poipu, the highlands of Koke'e, the Hanalei Bay, the Kalalau Trail, and the dying sugar plantations; it is a series of encounters with the native Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Euro-American people and traditions of Hawaii; a reflection on the century-old debate over the loss of Hawaiian sovereignty; a meditation on the nature and value of spirituality; and a tale of international intrigue involving interests in Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Iran and Taiwan.  All these factors and more make Fatal Paradise a great read and bode well for the sequels in the Sandwich Island Quintet series.
 
 

The plot in three sentences:  An estranged family of four, the Chases,  convene on Kauai for a vacation of reconciliation and renewal.  Before they can settle into their rental house, they discover a corpse.   All at once, the family is plunged into a dark complot that threatens the very character of the island.  Survival for each of them depends on relying on their own courage, grit and wit, but also on the help of Kauaians -- but which ones can they trust?  Okay, four sentences.

The cover image:  Ke'e Beach, one of many gorgeous landmarks on Kauai.  Why are there no people on the beach?  The gathering clouds are the harbingers of Iniki, the strongest hurricane to strike the Hawaiian Islands in recorded history.  Nobody's swimming today.

To download Chapter 1, click here.

Deconstructing the cover:

Terms highlighted below are linked to descriptive passages from the book.

FATAL:deadly, lethal, mortal; also, causing ruinous destruction, catastrophic, cataclysmic.  All these definitions apply in the Chase family's  week-long adventure.

PARADISE: heaven, rapture, bliss, ecstasy.  Kauai is an earthly paradise, but like all such places, it is threatened on many fronts, as the Chase family learns in the course of solving the mystery.

QUINTET: Each Book in the Sandwich Island Quintet is set on a different island.  Each island has its own geography, economy and customs, and its own mysteries.  If you like, take a look at an excerpt from the working draft of Book Two.

AUTHOR: T.C. Lawrence has travelled the tropics in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific,  and most especially, Hawaii, where he lives.  His writing brings the tropical environment to life: both its splendorand its "edge," the ever-present counterpoint between risk and serenity.