Tom Pashkov

After the death of their flock of chickens, Joan Doyle and her family struggle to make ends meet. Matters draw worse when Joan discovers that her parents are considering selling their farm and home. Desperate to save it, Joan gets to work.

Proxate Corporation recruits a boozy former ship captain and offers him a new identity: Sean Murdoch. His job: to take charge of large ship on one voyage. Once aboard, Murdoch realizes that the ship is a prison ship, and the cargo are criminally insane inmates. Murdoch's other problem: someone has planted bombs aboard the vessel. Murdoch's acrimonious relationship with the prison warden lends extra drama to the story.