This debut thriller by a US Coast Guard aviator will take you onto a cutter fighting drug runners at sea—and into the terrifying world of modern-day pirates.

Lt. Junior Grade Cole Williams has always been at home on the sea, racing sailboats and crewing yachts during his time as a cadet at the United States Coast Guard Academy. But when he reports aboard a cutter patrolling the Caribbean, he can’t seem to please the command, and his attempts to do the right thing always seem to land him in hot water.

At the end of a cruise on which he serves admirably during open-ocean rescues and in hot pursuit of drug runners, Cole is unceremoniously kicked out of the Coast Guard for what the command deems reckless behavior and a bad attitude. Dejected and disillusioned, he decides to go rogue—and make a few unsanctioned runs for the smugglers he’s already spent so much time chasing.

Navigating devious and dangerous twists and turns, Cole shifts from modern-day pirate to criminal fugitive. Ultimately, he’ll be forced to choose between staying on the wrong side of the law or taking a deadly risk for the Joint Task Force charged with stemming the flow of illegal narcotics.

While seldom in the headlines, the southern border of the United States has been a battleground for years, and the men and women of the US Coast Guard have fought tirelessly to keep lethal substances off the nation’s streets. In his debut novel, author Brian Boland shares a story born from more than a decade of experience fighting the war on drugs.