As a beautiful, young, well-to-do young woman sits upon her family's beach on the shore of a secluded island in the Florida Keys, a man clad in little more than the ancient ocean salt emerges from the waves. Günther Prien is a young German officer stationed on a cruise ship, and Eola Pinder is little more than putty in his hands. Their encounter leads to the birth of a son, Thomas Luther, who is destined for a life of adventure as he desperately seeks the love of a father throughout some of the worst events Key West and the world have ever seen.

Tom's life shapes up to be one adventure after another. He experiences an unlikely rescue as his room goes up in flames around his crib—flames that may have been started by the man Tom believes is his father. He's held hostage during a bank robbery and is nearly swept overboard from the deck of a freighter off Cape Hattaras during a major hurricane. Finally, in the midst of World War II, he finds himself carried away in a German submarine—in the hands of the enemy—by a man who turns out to be his father.

In this rich historical novel, an unlikely cast of characters struggles to find the strength to survive not only some of the most horrible tragedies in Florida's history, but some of the most difficult lessons individuals can learn in a lifetime.