Review by Claire A. Murray
Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of this book and a link to purchase it.
Federal park ranger Makalani Pahukula has transferred from her law enforcement ranger role in Oregon to become a seasonal interpretive ranger at a national park on the island of Hawai’i. The change from law enforcement duties to leading tours and giving presentations to tourists is tough on her. She feels isolated, is bored, and is not physically challenged—which she needs to feel emotionally grounded.
She leaps into action to rescue a man’s son who has fallen into a lava tube. These long cylindrical formations are deep and dangerous. The rescue revives her, despite the chewing out she receives from her direct supervisor for performing outside of her duties and not asking for permission.
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| Image Source Thomas & Mercer |
She doesn’t regret living on Hawai’i island rather than her family homestead on Kaua'i, but it sometimes adds to her isolation. Her cousin Brian, his wife Rosie, and their eight-year-old son Vinnie also live on Hawai’i island, and she reconnects with them.
Rosie’s father Larry Hiapo is a paniolo—Hawaiian cowboy—who was recently killed by a bull on his ranch. After Larry’s memorial service, Rosie and Brian ask Makalani to find out if Larry’s death was really an accident: the bull should never have been where it was, and Larry would not have climbed into the pit with a raging bull. Things just don’t add up.
Rosie fears for Vinnie’s safety, too, as he wants to be a paniolo. He emulates the older cowboys and has had several accidents and near-misses. Rosie’s fears are heightened after her father’s death. They caution Makalani that no one, especially Luke’s sons Kenneth and Louie, can know of her informal investigation.
To search for clues, Makalani uses her three days off each week to help the shorthanded Hiapo family bring in the cattle for their annual fattening-up trip to the mainland. She finds the physical exertion of cowboy life exhausting, yet it fits her need for activity while her brain works on clues about Larry’s death.
Makalani learns about Hawaiian cowboy culture and more about the family through Larry’s father Luke—the elder Kupunakãne—and Louie’s lover Malu.
As Makalani learned with her own family in the first book in the series, Kaua’i Storm, families can be fragmented with factions looking out for their own interests at the sacrifice of the family as a whole. The Hiapo family is tearing itself apart over who runs the ranch now that Larry is dead, especially because Kenneth and Louie disagree on how to run the ranch and whether to sell it. She grows suspicious of them as well as others connected to them.
Eldridge enfolds the reader in the world of the paniolo, a rich tradition developed in the early 1800s through Mexican vaqueros. She seamlessly weaves ancient stories, real locations, current issues, and fiction into the story. Her inclusion of ’ōlelo Hawai’i (native Hawaiian language) and Hawaiian Pidgin English terms throughout add flavor and authenticity. She includes a glossary of terms for the reader.
I thoroughly enjoyed this second book in the series and hope she has a third in the works. Hawai’i Rage is a perfect blend of an entertaining mystery and Hawaiian cultural exposure.
To enter to win a copy of Hawai’i Rage, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "rage,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 13, 2026. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.
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Claire A. Murray is an Arizona fiction writer who paints for inspiration. Play the Hand You’re Dealt is her short story collection. She edited two anthologies, SoWest: Wrong Turn and SoWest: Danger Awaits! (a Derringer Best Anthology finalist), and she’s completing a suspense/fantasy novel. Find her at cam-writes.com.
Disclaimer: She received an advance reader copy (ARC) from the publisher to review the book. Her review was not influenced by receiving the ARC.
Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.
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