Guardians of the Latte Stones

Awarded 5 Stars by The Historical Fiction Company, Readers’ Favorite, and Literary Titan. Kirkus says “Get it!”When duty demands the unthinkable, can one soldier find redemption before ancient forces exact their revenge?Wartime Sasebo, 1944. Orphaned siblings Takeshi and Yuki are barely surviving when desperation drives Takeshi to enlist in Japan’s Imperial Army—hoping military service will secure their future.Instead, he’s thrust into the hell of occupied Guam.Forced to participate in brutal atrocities against the indigenous Chamorro people, Takeshi watches in horror as his fellow soldiers begin succumbing to a mysterious affliction. The island’s elders whisper of vengeful ancestral spirits—guardians of the ancient latte stones—awakened by Japanese cruelty.As the supernatural attacks intensify, Takeshi is assigned an impossible task: find a cure before the entire garrison falls. His search leads him to a Chamorro woman whose courage and compassion ignite something he thought war had destroyed—his humanity.But with American forces closing in and his commanders demanding ever-greater brutality, Takeshi faces an impossible choice: remain loyal to an empire committing unspeakable evil, or risk everything to protect the woman he loves and atone for his sins.In a war where men become monsters, can one soldier reclaim his soul before the spirits—and history—pass final judgment?A haunting blend of historical fiction and supernatural suspense that explores the moral complexities of war, the weight of cultural trauma, and the possibility of redemption.