An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last. A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.

This one's a slow burn so far.  We meet the protagonists in the few years before the

arrival of the Ynaa and immediately delve into the consequences after.  Lots of introspection and tension amongst the island community, and yeah- the aliens have more going on than meets the eye, problem is we don't get to see any of the impact that aliens arriving would have.  

The story is so insular, it's like reading about an ant farm from the perspective of the ants.  There's no hint of any of the actual reprecussions aliens appearing on Earth would have: no sign of a military presence- or any explanation why it's lacking, not a whiff of any international interest from other nations, nothing.  Oh, aliens have landed, they share their superior technology and all they want is to be left alone and hang out in the Virgin Islands while waiting to teach Humanity some sort of lesson.

Ok.

While the affect alien arrival would have on the locals is always an interesting subject, the lack of anything else going on is what's dragging this one down.  We'll see.