Put-in-Bay investigative reporter Emerson Moore visits Shallotte, North Carolina to relax with an old friend. Little did Moore know that he would be pulled into the intrigue surrounding a suspicious boat offshore the Flounder Pier restaurant in nearby idyllic Holden Beach.

Mixed in the plot are the strange nightly explorations by a retired shrimp trawler captain on the Shallotte River near the Holden Seafood Company plus his longstanding feud with another trawler captain. Toss in a couple unsolved murders, a kidnapping and a sinking boat with two teenagers and you have the ingredients for a compelling adventure.

The family-oriented Holden Beach community finds its peaceful island life upended by the perilous incidences occurring between the Islands Art Gallery in Ocean Isle Beach and a Southport marina. The story is filled with several endearing characters and their multi-faceted relationships with each other.