Pearl

by Tim Hassall

December 1941: A daring spy trapped on Oahu. A military policeman hunting him. A woman taken off a steamer with a roll of cash as bombs fall on Pearl Harbor. A Honolulu detective investigating the murder of a Naval Intelligence officer. A high-class call girl out for revenge. And a privileged, corrupt businessman intent on remaking colonial Hawaii in his vision. Takijiro Sazaki is alone and cornered after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Military policeman James Hyde recruits Detective Wymo Ishimoto, who is investigating a brutal murder, and Kiri Ozawa, a Japanese Nisei who is thrown into a detention camp at the worst possible moment: the families who rule Hawaii are searching for her. These three people are the only ones who can stop Takijiro before he learns the American secret and dooms the war in the Pacific.

303 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2010

About the author

Tim Hassall is a writer and educator with a deep passion for narrative craft and historical storytelling. He holds a master’s degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Rutgers University, and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Delaware. Over the course of his academic and teaching career, he authored three books on writing instruction and one on SAT preparation, all grounded in the belief that clarity, structure, and emotional resonance are the foundation of great writing.
With Sunrise on the Evil and the Good, Hassall brings those principles to fiction, blending immersive historical detail with the pacing of a literary thriller. The novel explores pre-war Hawaii through the eyes of a conflicted protagonist navigating espionage, identity, and betrayal on the eve of Pearl Harbor. Rather than focus on historical figures or military leaders, Hassall centers his narrative on ordinary people swept up in extraordinary times—people whose moral choices echo into history.
Tim lives with his family in New Jersey, where he continues to write fiction and explore the intersection of history, suspense, and character-driven storytelling. Find out more at authortimhassall dot com.