Learning that a man on death row who is days away from being executed may be innocent, Jack Swyteck races against time to discover the truth about the victim, the accused, and the victim's parents.

With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.

Venturing into the cozy Riviera Beach of their youths on a frenzied literary pilgrimage, Serge Storms and his sidekick, Coleman, investigate the stories of a popular local surfer and an eccentric hermit before drawing the attention of a murderous band of villains.