When the amateur naturalist Yikai Zhang chanced upon a box of beetle specimens collected by the insect dealer Hakamoto, he discovered among them what seemed to be evidence of a new species - a sinister-looking Carabus from Hainan Island, where the genus had never been seen before. Yikai's curiosity intensified when Max Barclay, a world-leading entomologist at London's Natural History Museum, was baffled by the entire collection. But with only this single specimen known to science, they had to gather more evidence to establish the validity of the species.

Max sent Yikai on the mission of his dreams - an expedition to the jungles of Hainan in search of the elusive Carabus. On his quest, he encountered some of the most bizarre and wonderful creatures imaginable as he trekked through the island's rugged interior, battling the elements and his innermost fears. What he could never have known was that the outcome had already been written, and as the cloud of mystery cleared he was forced to accept a shocking but irrefutable truth...