Book excerpt: The Ghost Tribe A brutal gale batters the pilgrim ship Seaflower, driving the ill-fatedvessel off-course toward the coast of South America, leaving it to the mercy of bloodthirsty pirates and murderous tempests. The year is 1627. And so begins a drama that will ultimately span centuries, as destinystrands a handful of luckless European voyagers in the most inhospitable jungle on the Earth. In a world unfathomed, they must bury their dead and push on deep into the dark and savage land explorers will one day call Amazon. For them, there is no going back--only treacherous miles of lush, impenetrable beauty that camouflages sudden and terrible death. And there are others waiting and watching, ready to destroy to preserve what no one may truly possess. But here, in this strange and violent place of wondrous discovery, a small band of settlers is determined to endure at all costs, to build a new life in a merciless wilderness--and to forge a remarkable society that will be there to greet another group of the desperate lost more than three hundred years in the future. Based on the acclaimed television phenomenon, Peter Benchley'sAmazon, here is the extraordinary untold beginning of an adventure to stagger the imagination.