Tom Eubanks

Worlds Apart Tom Eubanks

Los Angeles, 1966. Matthew Banning is a quirky, 14-year-old preacher's kid who is victimized by his classmates and alienated by his mentally ill mother. Expecting a summer full of surfing and romance, his dreams are dashed when he and his two brothers are spirited away by his missionary father to Haiti.

Matt discovers the perilous road through paradise-and the poverty, disease and hopelessness of the Haitian people. Once at the mission, he innocently becomes the target of reprisals from the corrupt head missionary. On a day-trip to Port-au-Prince with one of the seminarians, Matt falls in love with Rachel, a rich, mulatto daughter of a rebellious government dignitary. Matt endures a strange aphrodisiacal ritual, a voodoo ceremony, and a violent storm in his quest to be with the girl of his dreams. But Rachel's father leads a failed coup against dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier and Rachel and her family vanish. Heroically, Matt leads the militia on a perilous chase across Haiti to reunite with her.