When a pig, a frog, and a woodpecker set out from Swami's Beach in Southern California on a three wheeled motorcycle bound for the ancient redwood forests of Big Sur, a lot can go wrong. There's the usual stuff like getting caught in a magnitude 8 earthquake and being followed by the ruthless bounty hunter known as Reacher. One expects that sort of thing. But when they get lost at midnight in the middle of nowhere, are being stalked by a hungry eagle and find themselves facing a nine thousand year old blood feud with a gang of revenge seeking Rakshasas (think Orcs, only meaner) hot on their trail, things get a bit tricky and they can use all the help they can get. Someone's got to have their back. It's times like this when it's good to have friends. Like Swami, who spends most of his time surfing but can do some amazing things; or Calliope Rose, the shotgun toting inn keeper; or Vashti, the ten thousand year old holy man; or Anansi, the shape shifting trickster; or Stokes, the ageless mountain man. And of course it's always nice to have Fred, the deranged Ninja, on your side as well.An unlikely confederacy, indeed.