[1][2][3] Orphaned and illegitimate, Jamie Sommers grows up believing he has "no hope of heaven", that he is doomed to a dreadful existence.

A Roman Catholic, he is deeply depressed by the ideas of being conceived in adultery and born in sin.

Taking to the sea, Jamie seeks out danger and adventure in exotic ports all over the world as a smuggler, gunrunner, and murderer.

Tough enough to handle anything, he survives foreign prisons, pirates, and a shark attack.

But in a quiet seaside town in Delaware, Jamie discovers something that pushes him over the edge mentally and changes his life forever.