Major Rose Nakamura thought the hardest part of her day would be taking the witness stand, but she was fatally mistaken.

For eight years, she and her task force have been building a case against “Mano” Manokalanipo, a cold-hearted mafia boss who controls most of the crime in Honolulu. The evidence is ready. The trial has begun. And Rose is the prosecution’s most important witness.

Mano has plans of his own, however, so the proceedings take a startling turn as a long-buried series of events connecting each of the story’s major players is revealed. What comes to light is that, as teenagers, Rose and her husband were caught up in the same street gang that Mano now commands. Escaping that world nearly cost them everything—and Mano hasn’t forgotten. Now, with the courtroom in chaos and her family in danger, Rose must rely on the skills that once kept her alive on the streets of Waikiki. And this time, no one’s coming to save her.

Set against the sunlit beaches and gloomy back alleys of Honolulu, The Waikiki Affair is a heart-racing thriller about loyalty, courage, and the price of leaving your past behind.