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

I have a sneaky feeling I’m going to spend a lot of the drive home thinking things out.


While I’m down the street at Wawa filling up my gas tank, Mom packs my clean laundry into my suitcase and Joey brings it downstairs for me. It’s waiting by the kitchen door, probably in the exact same spot where I set it when I first arrived. My parents are in the kitchen, Dad with his nose buried in the paper as if it’s nothing to him that I’m about to leave and Mom at the sink, washing the dishes from lunch. As I come in, she glances up. “You got everything, Brian?”


I take the steps two at a time and find Joey sitting on my bed. The covers have been folded neatly over the mattresses, both our beds made. As I come upstairs, Joey gives me a sad smile. “Thanks again, Brian.”


Thinking he’s means going out last night, I say, “Don’t mention it—”


Chapter 50