Riverboat

During the golden age of Mississippi, people from all walks of life climbed aboard the riverboats to help forge a nation. The stories of a gambler, a landowner, chambermaid, and runaway slave are told.

Having impulsively thrown away his chance for forbidden love with Mystie Waters, Clifton Stewart knew he had made a mistake. Forsaking his family fortune, he signed on as a crewman with the TEMPEST QUEEN to search for the mysterious chambermaid. His search was interrupted by an assault that left him with amnesia and Captain Hamilton's beloved boat vulnerable to a gang of hard bitten river pirates. Stewart recovers and with the aid of his friend, the gambler Dexter McKay, they even the odds in a massive struggle for the boat and its cargo.

Campaigning for the presidency of the United States, Senator Stephen Douglas is the target of assassins who hope to benefit from a war between the states. His trip on the TEMPEST QUEEN offers a golden opportunity for the charming but deadly Genevieve St. James, the assassin. Meanwhile, Clifton Stewart is still searching for his lost love, Mystie Waters. He finds the ruins of the riverboat she last served on and can only conclude that she was one of many casualties of a tragic explosion. What he finds seems just as likely to bring a sad end to his quest.