It's 1820 and the American Revolution is breaking down the old European order and culture. Captain Chad Grittenburg, a wounded veteran of the War of 1812 is driven by duty and chivalry. He fears dishonor more than death. When a duel goes horribly wrong and his fiance is killed, his world collapses.

Escape from his troubled mind comes in the form of a journey from Boston to Russian America. The peaceful trading voyage should be a remedy, but his emotional crisis tears at his leadership and frays his command. Betrayed on a stop in Cuba, attacked by pirates in the Caribbean, he barely saves his ship from storms rounding Cape Horn.

Arriving in the Spanish American port of San Francisco, Chad encounters a British brig captained by an old war foe with a beautiful young Russian noblewoman named Katarina Gerhardt. Smitten, yet troubled, he is happy to see her ship depart for Russian America.

Following their route, the American ship comes upon a handful of survivors from the British ship, wrecked on a remote forested island. Katarina is missing. Driven by his sense of chivalry, it will take all of Chad's combat and leadership skills to save her from a terrifying fate.

But what will save Chad from himself...the love of a beautiful woman or this untamed, unforgiving and wickedly beautiful land?