Gods, Ghosts, and Kahuna on Kauai: Book Two of the John Tana Trilogy

Gods, Ghosts and Kahuna on Kauai is the sequel to the dramatic novel of John Tana, An Adventure Novel of Old Hawaii which is set during the time of the Hawaiian Kingdom. That novel begins in the mid 1800s when the native Hawaiian hero John Tana struggles to understand and survive in the fast-moving Westernization of the islands. This sequel finds John heading in his canoe to the island of Kauai to escape the wrath of the sugar planter who forced him off his farmland on Maui years earlier. His love, Leinani remains on Oahu. Will he succeed in the Western world of private property that is replacing the Hawaiian communal lifestyle? Will America end the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom? Because of his martial arts training, John finds work for the plantations as a security guard. Competition among the planters and damage caused by resentful immigrant workers are reducing profits. He rescues people caught in a massive storm and flood, escorts a king, and settles into a contented family life. While in Honolulu to discuss security issues, he encounters his love, Leinani, and her American husband. Not only are the Western businessmen challenging Hawaiian values, the pressure from the missionaries to accept Christianity challenges Hawaiian spiritual beliefs. Many Hawaiians find it almost impossible to turn their backs on their traditions despite their baptism. A source of friction in John's marriage is the strong pull of the tradition of kahunas, gifts to the gods, fear of curses, and chants. Not everyone has discarded the rituals. Even John succumbs. John faces thugs hired by a sugar baron to kill him, a shark, and a wild boar. While on a hunt of the boar, John grasps a doll figure in a kahuna's hut and is stricken with fear. When he rushes home he is blamed for a death. A princess asks him to escort her to the leper colony on Molokai where he witnesses cruel conditions imposed on mostly Hawaiians. He learns that America believes in Manifest Destiny which brought America to their shores. John and his family prosper as they try to hold onto Hawaiian values, but there is always the nagging doubt of whether it can last. Kauai is a wild, tropical place where clouds swirl around sharp mountain peaks, water plunges thousands of feet, birds soar among the cliffs, the roar of the distant surf sounds like gods speaking, and kahuna curses seem real.