A chance encounter with an old flame sets reluctant investigator Thorn on a collision course with some of Florida's most ruthless killers in a heart-stopping story of modern-day piracy from the acclaimed author of Blackwater Sound, hailed by Dennis Lehane as `the king of Florida noir'.

Anne Joy first fled to the Sunshine State to escape a violent past. Now, years later, she slips back into bad company when she gets entangled with Daniel Salbone, a rising figure in the local mob whose men have been terrorising shipping lanes. When Thorn's old connection with Anne comes to light, he is desperate not to be dragged into dangerous waters. But the kidnapping of his best friend's daughter forces him to embark on a hunt that will take him from the deceptive lushness of the Florida Keys to a nightmare climax in one of the most remote and blood-chilling spots in the Caribbean.