For years, the American Zone of the Panama Canal mesmerized the world, working in uneasy coexistence with the Panamanian aristocrats. It’s in this buffered Zone where, in 1909, James Holt takes that first step to protect a defenseless girl named Saffire, expecting a short and simple search for her mother. Instead it draws him away from safety, into a land haunted by a history of pirates, gold runners and plantation owners, all leaving behind ghosts of their interwoven desires, sins and ambitions, ghosts that create the web of deceit and intrigue of a new generation of revolutionary politics. It will also bring him together with a woman who will change his course --- or bring an end to it.

For 10-year-old Jeremiah Prins, the life of privilege as the son of a school headmaster in the Dutch East Indies comes crashing to a halt in 1942 after the Japanese Imperialist invasion of the Southeast Pacific. Jeremiah takes on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings when his father and older stepbrothers are separated from the rest of the family, and he is surprised by what life in the camp reveals about a woman he barely knows --- his frail, troubled mother.

The Orphan King, once victorious in conquest, appears to be losing his grip on his seat of power. Thomas rules the kingdom of Magnus, but does not know whom he can trust. His enemies anticipate his every move, thwarting him at each turn. Under attack, both in the supernatural and natural worlds, Thomas must reach back into the secret layers of his past to find the strength and wisdom to fight his battles.

The last words of a dying woman would change the life of young Thomas. Raised behind monastery walls, he knows nothing of his mysterious past or imminent destiny. But now, in the heart of medieval England, an ancient order tightens their ghostly grip on power, creating fear and exiling those who would oppose them. Thomas is determined to fulfill his calling and bring light into the mysterious world of the Druids, and leaves the monastery on an important quest.