The coin of the realm for the wealthy, insatiably greedy Chinese smuggler who is Dirk Pitt's adversary in Flood Tide is human lives: much of his vast fortune has been made smuggling Chinese immigrants into countries around the globe, including the United States. Tracking the smuggler's nefarious activities leads Pitt from Washington State to Louisiana, where his quarry is mysteriously constructing a huge shipping port in the middle of nowhere. Why...