Joara transports the reader back to the early exploration of what is now known as North Carolina. Led by Captain Juan Pardo in 1566, the Spanish expedition of 125 soldiers finds new land and wealth, mingles with local tribes and finds itself in a battle of culture and expectations. Joara is the sequel to the novel Belmonte, wherein three young Portuguese men and an older Spanish Gypsy avenge a murder and escape the Iberian Inquisition by joining Juan Pardo's expedition to the New World. Blending recorded history with fiction, the action takes place in the Catawba town of Joara where Captain Pardo has built his principle of five regional forts. In Joara and the surrounding mountains, the four outsiders find adventure and romance. Their old world beliefs blend with those of the Native Americans they meet, transforming them into new men and survivors in the New World.