The year is 1883. Eduard van De Lier is a Dutchman overseeing a spice plantation on the island of Java, in the South Pacific. His obsessive attraction to dark-skinned men is just one of his many secrets. His wife Marien knows of his indiscretions, but as she's content with their Colonial lifestyle, she stays silent. Until a former lover of Eduard's shows up in their parlor with thoughts of blackmail. Reza was a crewman on the ship that brought the van De Liers to Java. During the passage, Eduard spent many a night in the younger man's arms. Two years have passed, and the last person Eduard expects to find in his drawing room is Reza, a letter in hand that could destroy the life he and Marien lead. Seeing him again ignites Eduard's lust for his first dark lover. He hopes to retrieve the letter, either through seduction or subterfuge, and the longer Reza eludes him, the more his desire grows. But they're on shaky ground, and before things can heat up between them, their world explodes -- literally -- when the unstable island of Krakatoa erupts.

All Shook Up

As I ease down the street, watching the kids run, I remember the way Joey’s sweats pulled along the back of his thigh with each step, and the motion in the front of his sweats because he liked to wear them without any underwear. Then I see the high school coach narrow his eyes at me and I hit the gas, hurrying by. I won’t think of high school anymore, or football or sweat pants, or anything else that might remind me of Joey. God knows I’ll see him soon enough.


Pacific dead-ends at 26th Avenue, so I turn right, then left two blocks down onto Atlantic. The houses here have that weathered, washed out look that makes me think of living near the water. A lot of them have wooden siding that has faded from the sun and the sea, and one or two old cars still boast metal bumpers that have rusted from all the salt in the air.


Chapter 10