Armed with his uncle's diary, Michael Mahana goes searching for the truth, about the secret the Mahana family has kept hidden for over thirty years, and what happened to uncle Sam. Set in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam and in present day New Zealand and North America, Witi Ihimaera's dramatic novel combines the superb story telling for which he is so renowned with the unflinching realism that made 'The Whale Rider' a literary and cinematic success. A powerful love story bravely told, it courageously confronts Maori attitudes to sexuality and masculinity and contains some of Ihimaera's most passionate writing to date.