The Presence / John Saul

Beyond the glittering Hawaiian beaches, obscured by the deceptive beauty of the rainforest, evil lurks for sixteen-year-old Michael Sundquist and his mother Katharine, an anthropologist who has come to the islands to investigate the unusual skeletal remains unearthed on the volcanic flanks of Halekala on Maui.

But far beneath the black depths of the Pacific, a mysterious substance worms its way through undiscovered cracks in the seabed, while nature itself seems to herald the horror to come. Then, with the sudden, unexpected death of Michael’s friend, a disturbing truth dawns: the company funding Katherine’s dig has a far greater interest than she ever imagined – an interest in medical terror. And her son may be part of this heinous grand plan. . . .