The grand master of adventure returns, and now his legendary hero Dirk Pitt is caught in a web of villainy on the high seas and the Mississippi River. A greedy Chinese smuggler is trading in human lives, trafficking Chinese immigrants into countries around the globe, including our own. Dirk Pitt tracks the man's nefarious activities from Washington state to Louisiana, where his quarry is busily constructing a huge shipping port in the middle of nowhere. The trail of misdeeds leads to the site of a mysterious treasure trove, filled with fifty-year-old booty from Chiang Kai-shek's regime. Pitt's opponent is as cleverand dangerous as criminals come, and the hero will be lucky if he can play him to a stalemate.