ShadrachWilliams
Tom Wilder never wanted adventure-he just wanted to provide for his family.
At 25, Tom works the brutal docks of Victoria Royal, supporting his bedridden mother and younger sister after a tragedy stole their father. When a high-paying two-month shipping job to India presents itself, he sees salvation. It's a chance to earn enough money to finally breathe, to build a future with his beloved Elizabeth, to give his family the life they deserve.
But nineteen nights into the voyage, a catastrophic storm tears the Eastern Promise apart.
Tom washes ashore on an uncharted island with sixty-one other survivors. The jungle is wrong-twisted, watching, alive with something ancient and malevolent. At its heart pulses a mysterious black rock that defies explanation. And in the shadows, the Hooti tribe watches, cursed with eternal youth and desperate enough to kill for their gods.
One by one, men begin to disappear into the darkness.
As paranoia fractures the survivors and the body count rises, Tom must become the leader they need to survive. With the help of Chip, a young Hooti boy fleeing his own people, they race to build a ship before they all become sacrifices. But escape is only the beginning of Tom's nightmare.
Some journeys change you forever. Some costs can never be repaid.
When Tom finally returns to London after a year lost at sea, he discovers that survival doesn't end when you reach home-sometimes, that's where the hardest battle begins.
A gripping tale of survival, sacrifice, and the scars we carry home.