Kauai Adventure Novel Makes E-Book Debut

Online, December 29, 2009 (Newswire.com) - In May of 2000, R. J. Thomas, an author and filmmaker, visited the island of Kauai and was instantly captured by its' beauty, history, and the spirit of adventure it offered. He kayaked the Wailua River, snorkeled at Tunnell's Reef, hiked through a rainforest on Mount Waialeale, and took a carriage ride through the Kilohanna Plantation, where, in 1935, sugar and pineapple baron Gaylord Parke Wilcox built, as a present for his wife, the grandest home ever constructed on the island.

Mr. Thomas' trip and his experiences inspired him to write "Along the Coconut Coast," a novella set during Hawaii's great sugar boom era, a time when immigrant entrepreneurs came to build plantations and make their fortunes against the backdrop of tropical paradise.

Mr. Thomas' novella, now available as an e-book, tells the story of Daniel Taylor, a 1914 sugar baron with a glorious plantation on the island's east side.

"He is well off and lives in paradise," Mr. Thomas said. "But his life is not without its' share of complications and adventures."

In the story, Taylor's prized niece plans to marry a Philadelphia snob that Taylor finds no favor with, he begins a correspondence and falls in love with a woman who lives five-thousand miles away, and a mysterious fellow he hires as a field worker might just be a murderer hiding out on the island from the mainland authorities.

"I placed the story in all my favorite spots on the island," Mr. Thomas said. "I couldn't resist. I wish everyone could have a chance to kayak the Wailua River and snorkel at Tunnell's Reef."

"Along the Coconut Coast" is now available as an e-book at BooksAndSuchMart.com.