Tom Lee has always dreamed of going to sea, just like his father. So when he's invited to join Captain Lee's crew aboard the Serota Star to sail from Singapore to Penang, it promises to be the trip of a lifetime. But Tom hadn't reckoned on the murderous pirates that follow them down the Malacca Straits. Vicious crews terrorize these waters, using radars and tracking technology to pinpoint and prey on valuable cargo-carriers. And when a Triad gang discovers what the Serota Star is carrying, the order goes out to seize the ship at all costs.

Tom is thrust into a terrifying world where the pirate leader, the sinister Dragon Lady, has the power of life and death over him. With his father's life ind anger, and ruthless pirates cracking the whip, Tom will need to rely on his new friends, and his knowledge of the sea, in order to make a brave escape ...