SUPPOSE THAT, early in 1945, President Roosevelt sent a handwritten letter to Adolph Hitler. What could such a letter possibly say? Well, Captain Joseph O'Connor, U.S. Army, knows of such a letter and he also knows where it is. There's only one problem: as the result of massive brain trauma, the captain has been silent for over fifty years.

Until now. Armed with the information, Nikki O'Connor, the captain's granddaughter, becomes obsessed with finding that letter. But once the secret leaks out, Nikki is forced to compete with others, including a U.S. senator on the campaign trail to the White House. Should the letter be made public, it would shipwreck the senator's campaign. And somewhere, in an old internment camp for German POWs that now lies buried under an RV Park and campground on the New England coast, is the letter. It has become the Holy Grail.

Nikki's past was horrific: when she was only five years old, her mother abandoned her to an incestuous, alcoholic father who, in turn, farmed her out to an austere convent boarding school. In spite of all that, as a single mother, Nikki put herself through college and graduated with honors. She went through the police academy and now, hidden beneath a face and figure that still cause heads to turn, lies a tough, resourceful environmental cop. But despite her intelligence and all of her accomplishments, issues of betrayal and trust continue to thread their way into the fabric of her life.

During her quest, Nikki pursues lobster rustlers, falls passionately in love, and is indirectly involved in a murder. Equally important, she learns to trust again. And while all this is happening, she's entertained by the humorous misadventures of a dysfunctional cast of characters. Then, as if all that wasn't enough, from out of the tropics comes a monster to stir the stew: a devastating hurricane named Dora. Not to be messed with, the category-five, catastrophic storm embroils everyone in an intense struggle for survival . . .