Dark Isle off the Florida coast is said to be cursed: drownings, disappearances and hauntings have been the fate of intruders. The people who lived there were once enslaved.

Now abandoned, it is the target of greedy developers. Lovely Jackson is the last survivor and claims to be its legal owner. But there is not a shred of evidence to prove that is true.

It's unlikely that the developers will be deterred by the claims of one old woman. They have millions; Lovely only has Steve Mahon, a pro bono environmental lawyer, and Mercer Mann, a floundering novelist, to fight in her corner. With the court case looming and the bulldozers waiting to roll in, Steve and Mercer are in a race against time to unearth the truth behind Lovely's story and save the legacy of the island.