Description

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Allie is a market research analyst from New York who receives a surprising invitation, a scoop of epic proportions. The Directorate of a tiny but affluent offshore country near North America's west coast grants her an unprecedented commercial research visa, which she readily accepts. Initially, Allie and her young daughter fall in love with the Island as they experience its generous lifestyle. But she learns too much and disturbs a system that cannot tolerate defiance. Confronted by the true power behind the facade of benevolence, Allie discovers why an Island should not become an island, entire of itself. At the same time, Allie wrestles with inexplicable incidents that rattle her perspectives, a personal revolution that counters her outward rebellion. Help appears in diverse and mysterious forms, but whom can she trust? And will it be enough to save both Allie and her daughter?

About the Author

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As a young man, James Badke spent a summer on Vancouver Island providing helpful information to the hundreds of backpackers who wanted to hike the fabulous forty miles of the West Coast Trail. That summer was the beginning of his fascination with the Island. Since then, he and his wife and two boys have lived there on several occasions, most recently for the past sixteen years. He thought it would be interesting to take a setting with which he was familiar and alter a bit of its history, creating a new setting for what he wanted to say. His inspiration was Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, in which nineteenth century Britain under King James III is overwhelmed with wolves that swarmed through the Channel Tunnel from Europe, which of course was not built until the late twentieth century. Nor was there ever a King James III.