Sometimes a wave offers no room to maneuver ...

When Evan Nellis, a neophyte biologist still reeling from the mysterious death of his father, is hired by PDT Biological Consulting in San Francisco, he finds himself under the brutal tutelage of Gordon Shaw, a brilliant biologist sorely lacking in people skills. With his neurotic, hypochondriac mother pressuring him to move back home to rural California and his entry-level wage forcing him to stay on the couch of an eccentric friend, Evan's only relief is surfing.

That changes when Richard Headley, a wealthy developer, takes an interest in Evan's career and requests him personally for the biological assessments of his properties. Yet what seems like a blessing at first soon finds Evan in conflict with his principles, and he must confront everyone, including himself, before all he values is destroyed.