Charlie Ridgway is a former US Army officer turned resort bartender on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Ridgway is bored by the seeming lack of intellectual and creative pursuits in the dream vacation community. One night at the bar, he and fellow bartender Bill Hersey meet Clarissa Daniels. As Ridgway flirts with the former B-movie actress, a young thief attempts to rob the bar's cash register. Ridgway chases him across the resort and fights him, holding his own because of his army training, but the hoodlum is similarly skilled and escapes.

The next day Ridgway learns Hersey was jumped by several men after his shift ended, and is in bad shape. After visiting Bill in his hospital room, Ridgway meets up with Clarissa. They spend the night together and Ridgway learns she is the kept girlfriend of rich real estate developer Jack Rhodes.

Ridgway discovers Hersey was complicit in the robbery at the bar, trying to pay off gambling debts owed to a syndicate of crooked Maui cops. Finding evidence that one of the cops is a muscle for Rhodes as well as an investment partner in a new luxury development, Ridgway begins a delicate and dangerous balancing act, trying to seduce Clarissa away from Rhodes.

The bad cops become violent when Ridgway gets too close in his attempt to shut them down. They beat him up and leave him for dead in a sugar cane field set on fire.

Everything rings true in this tightly crafted and highly believable narrative. Small Island is a suspenseful fast-moving tale of steamy sex and urban criminal violence played out against the backdrop of a beautiful tropical island. The author of this finely crafted novel, Anthony Pignataro, speaks of Hawaiian culture without being patronizing, and discloses some of the traps of living in paradise that are seldom seen by visiting vacationers.