Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves and pull him in. The man, strange and quiet, claims to be the Lord. Is the man who he claims to be? What actually caused the explosion? Are the survivors already in heaven, or are they in hell? Years later, when the empty life raft washes up on the island of Montserrat-- the events recounted in a notebook-- it falls to the island's chief inspector to solve the mystery of what really happened. -- adapted from jacket

"A bearded man in a badly soiled suit known only The Stranger wanders the fringes of a dying metropolis, looking for a way to 'get back on top.' Thwarted and rejected at every turn--even by the author of this novel, whom he visits repeatedly in unsuccessful attempts to determine the outcome of his own narrative--his impotence and rage drive him to acts of seemingly senseless violence. He encounters various characters on his journey: three skinheads who beat him senseless, a pack of sadistic boys who torture him, a deaf-mute woman who tries to heal him, and a deranged man who identifies him as The One. A sidewalk preacher and a crew of lost souls attempt to follow his trail, and an innocent boy ignites a fire that threatens to consume them all."--P. [4] of cover.