Hills of Cotabato is the story of Eddie Finn, a United States security investigator for the American government who, after being stationed in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, is three years later posted at the U. S. Embassy in the Philippines. He has been informed by his government to negotiate the release of three American Peace Corp volunteers, and a Chinese priest, who have been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a known terrorist group in the southern province of Mindanao. This single event, the kidnapping of three American Peace Corp volunteers, sets off a series of unforeseen events with the culmination leading Eddie Finn to Cotabato City and the jungles of Mindanao. The question of loyalty, personal and official obligation, and the regional conflict of religion and culture incite a web of intrigue and revelation.