At nineteen, Joe Smith thinks his life is finally taking shape. Working as a bicycle delivery man in New York, his days are simple, predictable—until the morning he is summoned to his father's office. What he hears there shatters everything. His parents are dead in a tragic accident, and their final wish sends him far from the only home he has ever known to a remote coastal village on the southwestern shores of South Africa. There, in the quiet town of Jonders Cove, he must live with a grandmother and uncle he has never met—family his parents never once spoke of.
But Jonders Cove is not the refuge he expects.
Beneath its serene beaches and Afrikaans traditions lies a centuries-old legacy, guarded by a hidden organisation with roots stretching deep into history. Joe's family is at the heart of it—and so, unknowingly, is he.
As Joe struggles with grief and displacement, he meets Alex, a local surfer whose presence awakens feelings he has never confronted. Their connection is immediate, profound, and unsettling in both the best and hardest ways. With Alex by his side—and Becky, the sharp-minded daughter of the hotel's chef—Joe begins to unravel the truth behind his family's secret.
The more they uncover, the more dangerous their world becomes.
Whispers of an ancient organisation, the Sanctum, echo through the Cove. Dedicated to fighting hidden evils—homophobia, racism, child abuse, bullying, and the cruelty humans inflict upon one another—the Sanctum's members are guardians, protectors, and sometimes unwilling heirs to roles they never asked for.
And Joe is next in line.
When Joe and Alex are abducted one devastating night, their bodies are pushed to the brink and their minds to the edge of breaking. Believing they face death, they fight together—only to rise into a world rewritten. Their ordeal was not an ending, but an initiation.
Joe and Alex emerge transformed, bound not only by love but by destiny. They are revealed as the next Admirals—leaders of the Sanctum, charged with carrying forward a mission that has shaped their bloodline for centuries.
But leadership demands truth. And truth demands sacrifice.
As Joe steps into a legacy built on secrecy, protection, and pain, he must confront the lies that shaped his childhood, the prejudices that destroy lives, and the power he now holds to make a difference—or repeat the mistakes of generations before him.
Secrets Unveiled is a sweeping story of grief, identity, and awakening. It is about choosing who you become when the world tries to decide for you, about love found in unexpected places, and about rising—together—into the truth of who you are meant to be.
Book One is only the beginning.