""I am a killer, and I am an honest man." Israel Pike thinks to himself as he sits in police custody. It's been several days since he discovered the bodies of seven men, butchered aboard their yacht. Israel had climbed aboard to investigate when he saw the boat floating listlessly, but his interference at the scene and connection to one of the deceased has made him the FBI's prime suspect. And elsewhere on the island is 12-year-old Lyman Rankin, who, when hiding in a nearby shack from his raging, alcoholic father, discovers he is not alone. A woman, bloody and dripping wet with a hatchet in hand greets him in the doorway: "Make a sound and I'll kill you" she threatens"-- Provided by publisher.