Elizabeth Hand (The Book of Lamps and Banners; Curious Toys) probes dark crevices in beautiful places, and the engrossing Hokuloa Road, which explores the circumstances of a young man trying to find purpose and meaning, is no exception. It's a long way from Maine, where Grady Kendall has lived all his life, to Hawaii, where he has never been and knows no one. But Maine has grown stagnant for Grady, especially during the pandemic, during which this novel is set. His carpenter jobs have dried up and his last relationship has ended; aside from his mother, he sees few people. A job as caretaker for eccentric billionaire Wes Minton, working at his mansion on the beautiful, remote Hawaiian volcanic peninsula of Hokuloa, may be his salvation.
As Grady settles in, he finds Hawaii buckling under the pandemic: rooms at luxury resorts stand empty while the "houseless" sleep on the streets, littered with abandoned cars. He worries that a young woman he met on the flight to Hawaii is missing along with myriad others, a situation the police ignore. Grady fears that his odd boss--who keeps a tank of poisonous sea urchins and cages of birds that are supposedly extinct, and who disappears for days--may be connected.
Hand contrasts Hawaii's rich environment with Grady's emotional well-being as he looks into what motives Wes may have. Grady believes that exposing Wes's true nature may be his last chance to make a difference. Hokuloa Road smoothly incorporates Hawaiian ghost stories and myths into an exciting plot grounded in the natural world. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer