From the author of The Casket comes a gripping story of war, tragedy, romance, and drama. Arthur Munro has carried the burden of his ghosts of the past for more than 40 years without ever really sharing his story with anyone. When his grandson visits him on his farm in South Africa, he finds himself lowering the barrier for the first time as he relives the tragedy of a time best forgotten. Co-opted into a squad of US Marines because of a special ability, the young Munro finds himself on a special assignment aimed at eliminating the Japanese forces on a remote island in the Pacific during WWII. What was supposed to be a straightforward operation turns into a living nightmare when Munro and his men are captured and kept as prisoners of war on the island. After spending months of torment and agony at the hands of his captors, he gains his freedom after a desperate escape, but leaves behind a promise to return. His failure to keep that promise haunts him for four decades until by a strange twist of events, he is finally able to break the yoke of guilt and regret.