After a widowed executive receives terrible news that he has incurable lung cancer, he retires, moves to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, and purchases a home on an eroded end of the island that is predicted to be swept into the ocean in mere months. He thinks the timing is perfect. But when he stumbles onto a box on the beach that holds an ancient jinn who offers him a bargain to record and transcribe his tales, everything changes.

Now as the narrator of the jinn’s tales, the retiree shares insight into the lives of a diverse group of characters who each must find their way through challenges. Priscilla is an immense tiger shark who, when her life intertwines with that of a corrupt human, reminds the world of her immense power. Ira Mortenson is the kind of guy one would brush by on the sidewalk and never notice. Fear has been his companion for as long as he can remember. But when he begins to witness a series of miracles, Ira’s life becomes more exciting than he ever imagined.

The Barrier Island Chronicles is an anthology of seven short tales narrated by a retiree with a new lease on life after making a bargain with an ancient jinn.