When Gabriel Flaherty plunges from a cliff to his death, it is left to his brother Michael, a priest from New York, to return home to The Island and uncover what has happened. Michael finds his childhood home much changed. With the opening of a factory, the sea that had given the islanders their livelihoods, and claimed so many of their lives, is no longer vital; but along with steadier incomes and easier lives, the factory has brought suspicion and jealousy. While confronting his past--his estranged father, his first love, and the old priest who changed his life--Michael discovers an intricate, far-reaching web of evil that touches everyone he knows. When the close-knit islanders realize the full extent of what is going on, they unite to avenge their own, seeking justice of a different kind. As the net tightens, they wait and watch to see who will survive...