Jack Shelby Sloane, an alcoholic ship captain, leaves Florida after a manslaughter conviction. Divorced by his wife and losing custody of his children, he stops drinking and travels to the Borders islands to run a boat yard. Jack marries Ginny and begins a new family and a new life.

But his dreams are shattered when the Red Death attacks the Bahamas. Disease and anarchy converge to destroy the islands. To make matters worse, a nearby underwater volcano comes alive to finish the job. Jack must now confront his conscience in a mortal struggle to keep himself and his loved ones alive in a world rapidly collapsing into chaos. He seeks to discover the truth about the Red Death: How does the plague occur in the twenty-first century, and who is responsible for this killer outbreak?