The Hole in the Bone is an adventure fantasy set in The Land of Fruits and Melons. This exotic region is a melt of Asian, Uighur, and ancient Western cultures. Nick Taylor is hired by the Regional Museum of Xinjiang to lead an archaeological expedition to discover the Lost City of Shamadu. He is caught in a sandstorm in the Taklamakan Desert and stumbles upon the tomb of an ancient shaman who holds out to him a magic bone that transports those who look through to other lives and worlds. Nick looks through the hole and emerges in ancient Shamadu incarnated as the shaman, Tok Ma. He endures physical hardships and fights mythological demons in the Kunlun Mountains to find Fenghuang, the all-knowing simurgh. The simurgh reveals that Lord Xie Pu will soon die and feast on the souls of his people for eternity in the hallows of the Kunlun. Tok Ma must save them but will fail in his mission. He will be given a second chance to succeed in another life as Nick Taylor.