From the sweltering slums of Rio de Janeiro to the isolated plantations of Brazil, The Healer tells the story of Manoel, a curandero, who inherits an incredible healing power, and the people whose lives he changes forever. But little does Manoel realize that the man he brings back to life will become his deadly enemy in a struggle for control over an ancient power. For Caldos, the founder of a religious cult, sees Manoel's healing power as a threat to his own control over his followers, and is determined to harness the powers of Manoel's mysterious ward Joao, to gain total domination over his world. So begins the Children of the Panther series, an epic of love, hope and the enduring power of family.