High in the Ethiopian mountains, a sorcerer known as the Hyena Man concocts a devilish plan to destroy a Christian charity…
David Tesfaye has suffered many tragedies—a violent civil war, childhood guilt, a wife who deserted him, followed by drunkenness and depression. Living a safe and anonymous life in London, he's turned away from people and from God.
But then Alzheimer's invades his mother's mind. Called home to Ethiopia, David has no choice but to return to the land of his birth. He plans to comfort his mother as much as he can and get her affairs in order. But in his heart, he longs to flee his large family and return to anonymity.
Reluctantly, he becomes the guardian of a street boy. Then, an American college student writes to him. She claims to be the daughter he hasn't seen since she was an infant. David takes refuge in a temporary job at a children's charity, where he meets attractive American widow Julie Johnson. An IED killed Julie's husband in Iraq over 10 years ago. Julie had accepted she was a one-man woman for life. But she and David feel a growing connection. As their relationship blossoms, the threat from the sorcerer, known as the Hyena Man, grows.
The future of the children's charity—which has helped thousands of children in an impoverished rural area—is at stake. And so are the lives of dozens of children held captive in a mountain cave.
But with the help of Abby, a mysterious child who has escaped the Hyena Man, can David and Julie thwart the Hyena Man's evil plan? Or will the Hyena Man have the last laugh?