Vlad the Red

The streets of 1950s Honolulu are quiet.

Beneath them, a war is about to begin.

Vlad the Red, fearless chief of the Crimson Tribe, has spent years fighting for the rights of Oahu's underground rat community. Now someone wants him dead. After a failed assassination at the Great Rat Parade, Vlad hires detectives Angie Ozawa and Rocky—a hard-boiled German Shepherd with a badge—to keep him alive long enough to uncover the truth.

As rival rat tribes forge an uneasy alliance, corrupt union bosses, mobsters, and hired killers plot to seize control of the city's vast underground. Meanwhile, Vlad's hotheaded son, Tuggle, his kindhearted daughter, Snuggle, and their unlikely human friend Lily find themselves caught in a conspiracy that could engulf the entire island.

With danger lurking beneath Honolulu's streets, old enemies must become allies—or watch everything they've built go up in flames.

Set in a richly imagined 1950s Hawaii where humans and talking animals share the same world, this second Animal Island Mystery blends classic noir, mystery, humor, and unforgettable characters into an adventure unlike any other.