When all of his friends have left town, Kinky Friedman feels very much alone. He sits and ponders the imponderables of life and discusses the state of the world with his cat. His reverie (and constant state of morbid self-absorption) is interrupted, however, by a call from an old friend in Hawaii, Will Hoover, a journalist for a Honolulu newspaper. Will has a problem: Mike McGovern, one of Kinky's sidekicks and stalwart Village Irregular, has disappeared while strolling on the beach in Hawaii. Knowing McGovern's penchant for taking occasional side trips when working on a book, Kinky is not overly concerned.

As the days turn to weeks, Kinky decides to fly to Hawaii to look into McGovern's disappearance. Joined by Stephanie DuPont and V.I. Rambam, he sets off on a perilous adventure involving ancient myths, sacrificial cults, totems, and taboos.