title: Strangely Wonderful
author: Mercury, Karen
description: Along with his pirate crew, captain Tomaj Balashazy rules the Madagascar coast from his tropical plantation—a fortress built to defend against the enemies he’s made cruising the Indian Ocean. But when the American naturalist Dagny Ravenhurst falls into Balashazy’s lagoon during an expedition seeking a dreaded and mystical species of lemur, it spells the end of the temporary peace on the island. Ravenhurst is beholden to the French industrialist Paul Boneaux—who enjoys a monopoly over the island's manufacturing and commerce—and needs his patronage to survive. When the two adversaries, Balashazy and Boneaux, are pitted against each other, the island boils with blood, and only one will emerge triumphant.