Ike Schwartz, Sheriff of Picketsville, Virginia, and Ruth Dennis, the President of a local university and Ike's fiancee cannot find peace and quiet be at home after a trying year of academic and local politics. So, they elect to seek asylum on Scone Island, a rocky island four miles off the coast of Maine. Its lack of electricity, reliable water supply, and phone service guarantee their seclusion and peace. The fact there has been a suspicious accident resulting in the death of the mysterious Harmon Staley should not concern them at all. And it doesn't until Ike's past as a CIA agent rolls in on him like the area's famous twelve foot tides. Two more murders involving former colleagues elsewhere in the country send Charlie Garland, Ike's old friend from the Agency searching the files for a connection. Stonewalling by the CIA, conspiracies, real and imagined, end with Ike and Ruth facing an unknown but determined number of assassins alone on the island.As if that were not enough, Ruth's mother decides to drop in on them just as the excitement begins. A late arrival by the Director of the CIA and Charlie only make things worse for Ruth who opts for Plan B--Las Vegas--in the hopes that she and Ike can finally get lost in the crowd. And good luck with that.