A month before a killer hurricane hits Florida, Doc Ford gets a heads-up from a state department pal that during recent natural disasters, a group of paramilitary contractors have used the poststorm chaos as a license to steal--and kill.

Doc doesn't give the warning much thought until the night the big storm hits. He's alone. The marina is a ghost town. Doc would have evacuated too but had to work a last-minute deal with the owner of the marina and some other stubborn liveaboards. They know the odds of being robbed after a storm spike. On barrier islands, there's about a twelve-hour window before help of any type arrives. No law enforcement, no first responders. And very few residents to deal with because most have evacuated.

So, Doc stays. He isn't worried about himself. But he does wonder about a new neighbor: a British physician, inventor and possibly an MI-6 asset. The man lives in one of the expensive houses on Millionaires Row. In fact, it's just down the shoreline from the retired N.S.A. Director's home. This is no coincidence, and it begs the question: Will the storm bring out other new visitors to the island?