Orchid of the Night

This award-winning novel follows the short life of Kyle O'Sullivan who is running from his troubled past after a fire consumes his aunt’s orchid estate on Maui, destroying their livelihood and killing his only living relative. Realizing that the fire was meant for him, he must flee for his life. He moves to Tempe, Arizona, bringing with him the only orchid to survive the fire -the Dracula vampira, also called the Orchid of the Night. He finds solace in the gay sanctuary of Ixtlan; however, even with a new identity he cannot escape his tragic fate. As historical fiction, Kyle’s story sheds light on the Gay Liberation Movement in San Francisco during the AIDS epidemic as well as on one of the nation’s first gay sanctuaries, still existing near Gallup, New Mexico. In part two of the novel, the second protagonist, Detective Andy Gomez, becomes embroiled in the secrets and lies of Kyle’s past that relate to his own family saga. This provocative, emotionally charged thriller delves into the inner worlds of both protagonists as they grapple with painful paradoxes of life and shows how redemption is possible even in the face of tragedy.