Mike O'Reilly was in enough trouble when he escaped from the Goan prison fortress of Cabo Sita with a price on his head and a medal around his neck given to him by a dying prisoner. But Mike was a magnet for trouble, and trouble pursued him the length and breadth of India as tirelessly as he pursued the fabulous hoard of Dutch gold from the East Indies, hidden by the Japs somewhere on the Malabar coast. The medal and a cryptic message are clues to where the treasure is hidden and they are also a link to Nu Pah, a Burmese monk whose cunning, loyalty, intelligence and subtlety make him an outstanding half of an astonishing partnership. It's the biggest haul in history and O'Reilly and Nu Pah need to trust each other - but they don't. So much is stacked against them: the Indian and Goan police, a rival gang of bandits, a double-crossing doctor, O'Reilly's romantic entanglements - and treachery.