Zachary Wallace is a "young Jacques Yves Cousteau," a boy-genius named one of the top scientists in the world for his unique approach in tracking the ocean's most elusive creatures. But Zack's future as a scientist is in doubt. A near-death experience suffered while on expedition in the Sargasso Sea has caused long-forgotten memories to resurface. . . memories of a horrible near-drowning as a child on Loch Ness.

Haunted by vivid night terrors, stricken by a sudden fear of the water, Zack finds he can no longer function as a marine biologist.Unable to cope, his career all but over, he stumbles down a path of self-destruction. . .until he receives contact from his estranged father, a man he has not seen nor heard from since his parents' divorced and he left Scotland when he was nine.

Angus Wallace, a wily Highlander who never worked an honest day in his life, is on trial for murdering his business partner. Only Zachary can prove his innocence - if he is innocent, but to do so means confronting the nightmare that nearly killed him seventeen years earlier.