Coming of age against the backdrop of World War II Japan, an American boy, Connor Williams, tormented by his personal alienation and the horrors of war, places himself in harm's way and into the turmoil of a plot to overthrow the Emperor.

Whether it was out of fear, revenge, honor or personal salvation, this American teenager sat himself, of his own free will, in the pilot's seat of a Mitsubishi Zero, to join other young Kamikaze pilots hell-bent on attacking the powerful American fleet off the coast of Japan.

In the Hands of the Gods, Book 1 of The IJIN Trilogy traces the Japanese historical period between 1936 through the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, telling the story of World War II from the Japanese perspective. Using historical and fictional characters, IJIN explores the political, military, cultural and social events affecting the lives of Connor's adopted Japanese family and the political and military individuals they encounter.