John Edward Rossi isn’t the man you’d expect from his name. Adopted at age four, he is Hawaiian in looks, but New Jersey-raised, where he has spent thirty-one years struggling to blend in. He runs the family business, and is engaged to Angela Mancini. Marriage is his chance to finally assimilate into local society. 

His best friend has taken a job with a gambling company in Hawaii. When Jimmie is found murdered on Maui, John is compelled to return to his birthplace to bring his friend’s body home and to reassure Jimmie’s mother that justice will be served. The moment he steps off the plane, Maui feels alive to him—refreshing, intoxicating, and strangely familiar. He soon realizes that Jimmie’s murderer is not the man they have in jail. Plus he is spellbound by Lani, the accused suspect’s beautiful and mesmerizing Hawaiian attorney. 

Determined to find Jimmie’s killer, he is led into a perilous confrontation with Charles N. Brewster, a wealthy and powerful casino owner. Meanwhile, Angela’s father dispatches goons to Maui to drag John back for marriage to his daughter. And a mysterious gang of Tongans is pursuing him around the island. 

But John Rossi is undeterred—Hawaii has become home.

Paul Konwiser’s intimate knowledge of Hawaiian culture and lore imbues his novel with credibility and compassion. Island of Shadow and Light sweeps readers into a vivid story of identity, danger, and discovery, where the brilliance of Hawaii’s beauty collides with shadows of greed and violence.