rick stevens is a tough as nails new orleans private investigator hired to locate a luscious, free-spirited young woman who disappears from pont rouge, louisiana. little does rick know that his quest for the young southern belle would involve much more peril than he would ever, in his wildest dreams, have bargained for. the woman’s father is convinced that serious trouble has befallen his daughter. at first rick isn’t so sure that is actually the case, but when she is found murdered in new orleans, his skepticism vanishes as quickly as his assignment changes from finding her to finding her killer. during his search for the person responsible, rick uncovers a unique heroin running operation that uses commercial shrimp trawlers to move the contraband along the intercoastal waterway, from pont rouge, across southeast louisiana, to the north short of lake pontchartrain for distribution. rick’s investigative legwork takes him through the darker sides of the crescent city and into the french quarter nightlife, and there is no shortage of steamy sexual situations, and intense physical encounters accompanied by murder and mayhem. after some unexpected twists, the case comes to a fiery conclusion in a blazing conflagration on the banks of the mississippi river.