The Island of Passion and Rage   The Island of Passion and Rage I. SYNOPSIS A torrid, tropical romance between an American author and a hot-headed native leads to violence, murder and adventure on a strategically critical Pacific island torn over an offer to become America's 51st state. II. SUMMARY Devin Chandler, the President's friend, advisor and biographer, travels to the South Pacific Island of Mariana for a leisurely vacation. Unofficially, he's there to act as the President's eyes and ears concerning the hotly debated issue of whether the current U.S. Commonwealth should be upgraded to America's 51st state. At stake is the future of a sprawling U.S. Air Force base that has suddenly become vital to America's security interests. A rash of voluntary and involuntary base closings across the Pacific and Orient has left Mariana as the only remaining F-16 fighter jet platform in the turbulent region. The political and defense issues are swept aside when Devin falls in love with an exotically beautiful, but fiercely temperamental member of Mariana's historic ruling family. To complicate matters, the woman's position as Mariana's top judge gives her an inordinate amount of power -- along with a terrifying outlet for the thunderous temper tantrums that have long plagued her ancestors. Devin's stormy relationship with "The Ice Barracuda," a.k.a. Judge Keyanna Borjaha, threatens to unravel the statehood drive, alter the tenuous status of the base, and interfere with the future of the island itself. Although he's keenly aware of all this, Devin's intense desire for the hot-blooded, sexually overheated jurist blinds him to both his personal danger, and the far-reaching international consequences of his perilous affair. He lingers on the island for more than a year, soaking in Keyanna's insatiable passion while his business interests suffer, his career falters, his literary agent fumes, and the President goes nuts trying to get him to return. Devin stalls for time, conveniently failing to mention that his "Dragon Lady" girlfriend is using her fearsome reputation and vast legal powers to effectively cut off all avenues of escape. He has become a prisoner in an extremely gilded cage. Devin's ravishing, dark-skinned "warden," Judge Borjaha, is irrational, demanding, spoiled, volatile, insecure, violently jealous, and extremely possessive of her untamed, devil-may-care American boyfriend. She fears that deep down, he views their steamy relationship as little more than a temporary vacation fling. She's convinced herself that despite his repeated professions of love, he would never return to Mariana once he freed himself from her overzealous clutches. She's also afraid -- though she'd never admit it -- that her inability to control her raging emotions will eventually drive him away. Attempting to compromise, Devin bravely invites the Stanford educated attorney-turned-judge to join him at his "nifty pad" inside the White House. Sadly, she explains why she is compelled to turn him down. Judge Borjaha has made it her personal campaign to stop the relentless flight of native professionals seeking the greater financial rewards available to them in America. For Mariana to progress, the sons and daughters that are routinely sent to distant American universities must return and spearhead the island's growth. To set an example, she subsequently promised her countrymen that she would remain on Mariana herself. While her motivations are noble and heartfelt, she secretly hides a far more binding, and shocking, reason why she can't leave her homeland. The long-term prospect of being forever "imprisoned" on Mariana gives a notorious free spirit like Devin the creeps. Regardless, he is unwilling to test his restraints and try to break away. Instead, he chooses to procrastinate and live day to day -- that is, if his ball-busting agent and the President stand for it. Meanwhile, when he's not in the throes of passion, Devin spends his time strolling the pristine beaches, dining on an array of wondrously prepared seafood, partying with Keyanna's crafty politician brother, befriending the base's colorful, hard-drinking fighter squad wing commander, and chronicling the emotionally charged efforts of the pro-statehood, anti-statehood, and pro-Commonwealth forces. Devin's endless summer is finally interrupted by a series of dramatic events kicked off by a string of mysterious murders and attempted murders sandwiched between a monstrous typhoon (which itself spawns a surrealistically jubilant death-watch party). It culminates with the explosive activities surrounding the President's unprecedented visit to Mariana to rescue his friend and biographer.