James Pandolph (Panda), the main character and narrator of Martyr's Creek, is an executive on a forced leave of absence who is called back to the United States when he is named the executor of the estate of a man he never wanted to see again. This man, Thomas Powys, was not only very wealthy, but an academic in the forefront of the politically powerful neo-conservative movement.

The unwinding of the Powys' estate sets the book to proceed like a tour-de-force. Martyr's Creek seems like that for the first three chapters, until Chacko begins to spin its subplots. These turn out to be more interesting and important than the heaps of money that Powys left to his political causes. It seems everything in this novel is haunted—and tainted—especially passion and the amassing of wealth.

Panda inherits Dana, a woman who has had affairs with the deceased and his executor in the past. A brilliant character, she plays off her close knowledge of both men until the novel finds its secret links to all the sins and its emotional depth. The question is how much will Panda be able to discover about himself and his tormentor. Is it enough to make sense of their lives?

Panda has to go all the way up Martyr's Creek for the answers. It's a journey into the past—so far into the past that it reaches back to the founding of America. That's where the sins of the past finally dissolve in swift-running water.

ForemostPress.com