For the sake of his wife and daughter, Tom Gardner, a phytologist, moves with his family from the countryside to the city. In the city, he works in a shop that sells bonsai trees, and he also maintains the rooftop garden of his apartment building. The shop's owner is Saito-san, an old Japanese man from Okinawa. A few weeks before Saito-san's death, Tom receives a special gift from his employer, a bonsai tree. Following Saito-san's demise, Tom visits Okinawa to deliver the old man's ashes to his ancestral shrine. While away, a bomb blast at the shop kills his wife and daughter. Unable to cope with his grief, Tom wallows in a state of depression until one day his bonsai tree begins to exhibit something strange. It reveals to him a clue to the bomber's identity. With the help of his neighbor, Diane Goldman, an investigative journalist for a local newspaper and a friend of his teenage daughter, Tom begins to unravel the identity of the bomber.
Bruce Allsman is a short story author and novelist. He writes in many genres, including literary, romance, science fiction, horror, fantasy, crime, mystery, thriller and suspense genres. He has work appearing or forthcoming in over a dozen venues. When he's not writing, he enjoys learning foreign languages.