TAINO SUNRISE

The story of a young indigenous native named Nico who lived in Puerto Rico's central hills during the time of the Spanish conquest, which decimated most of his people. While out fishing one day, he comes across his wounded aunt, and a Spanish soldier of fortune named Diego Galán. Nico brings them to his village, where his chief, who fears that conquistadores will track Galán there, orders Nico to execute him after a fatal accident. Following a bold escape, the two friends find themselves in the middle of a Carib invasion of San Juan. As they flee in a rowboat, they're rammed by a ship bound for Spain. As Nico inadvertently sets sail across the Atlantic, he dreams of his island home and wonders if he will ever see it again, will the Spanish ever liberate the Taínos, or will his life end swinging from a gallows?Victor Rodriguez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City, studied at Bronx Community and Hunter Colleges and worked as a laboratory technician. He is the author of Eldorado in East Harlem, a coming-of-age novel, and Ravenhall, a murder mystery. Taíno Sunrise is his first historical novel.