It all begins with a robbery at the Aloha Shores Resort. The safe room in the admin suite was burgled in the middle of the night. Three watches and several rings, collectively worth around $2 million, had been stolen. But that’s not the most concerning issue. It’s the chalk drawing on the floor of a Hawaiian symbol, known as the Papahānaumokuākea petroglyph, or the Eye of the Navigator. Detective Leilani Kealoha is the lead investigator. When a second hotel is robbed days later, with the same petroglyph drawing left at the scene, she begins to think there is something more sinister going on. Rumors surface of a mastermind called the Host behind it all, a person with far-reaching connections. Can she solve the crimes and figure out who the Host is without landing herself and her family in danger? You’ll have to read Chuck Morgan’s The Eye of the Navigator to find out.

Leilani Kealoha is a single mother of a 10-year-old detective-to-be, named Kai, and has to balance police work with raising an impressionable child. The action begins from the opening paragraph and carries through to the final sentence. There is shock after shock, until the most unexpected reveal of all. Well done, Mr. Morgan. The Eye of the Navigator is the second book in the Kealoha Island Thrillers series, and since there are plenty of references to the first book (Murder in Paradise), I’m going to read it next to get the full story. I’m already a fan of Chuck Morgan from reading his Buck Taylor Mystery series, and was delighted to see a new series available. As always, he didn’t disappoint me. Thriller fans who like fast-paced action with a strong female protagonist will especially enjoy this book.

The Eye of the Navigator by Chuck Morgan is the second book in his Kealoha Island Thrillers series. Detective Leilani investigates a robbery at an upscale hotel and notices a concentric spiral drawing left behind, initially mistaking it for a child’s doodle. When another heist occurs 72 hours later, it becomes clear that the symbol—the Papahānaumokuākea petroglyph, known as "the eye of the navigator"—is the culprit’s signature. This ancient symbol was believed to guide travelers or warn off outsiders. With several investigators on the case, it only becomes clear later that the detective herself is the target and the key to unraveling the criminals' plot. Each crime committed gives Leilani a clearer vision of the ghost she is hunting. At some point, the hunted will become the hunter, but will she be ready at that pivotal moment?

Chuck Morgan fascinates us with contradictions as paradise is shrouded with murder and crime becomes a game in this conspiracy thriller, The Eye of the Navigator. Detective Leilani Kealoha treasures her heritage of the Hawaiian Islands, and she strives to keep it safe. A string of heists and murders threatens the peace and beauty of her homeland as the ghost behind it all has its focus on her. One after another, the heists seem to escalate, not in the time between them but in the intensity of the crime. Each spiral of the petroglyph tightens and closes the balance between ghost and Leilani. This book keeps you anticipating the next move and wondering where this hunt ends. I highly recommend this series and the author who gives us a glimpse of this magical Island.