The Puna Kahuna — Mark Brown

Returning from earlier appearances in Game Face and Yellowfin , Hawaiian police detective Ben McMillen here confronts murder, greed and revenge--for spiritual and worldly wrongs--when the businessmen behind Jackson Hole Geothermal proceed with plans to build a power plant in the Wao Kele O Puna rain forest. The drilling angers many, including Nohea Konanui, Ben's engineer friend, other members of the Pele Defense Fund and Madame Pele, the mythical creator of the islands. A kahuna , a high priest of the ancient beliefs, leaves idols at the construction site to frighten the workers; someone murders a Jackson Hole employee. Ben, an athlete freshly awakening to the environmental and religious aspects of his Hawaiian heritage, finds himself involved in a case that has more twists than the roots of the massive 'ohi'a tree. Brown takes a big chance blending myth and religion with modern-day elements in his suspenseful tale; he succeeds admirably. Tunnels running through the lava base of the rain forest are part of a setting never seen on Hawaii Five-O , and readers, even those who find Ben a little too earnest and too good to believe, will likely relish the surprise of the villain's identity. (Nov.)