Seventeen-year-old Alvin Landon is heading to West Point, but first he must navigate something far more treacherous than any military academy: the dark Maine woods in his motorboat, the Deerfoot. When shadows move behind him in the wilderness and suspicious figures cross his path, Alvin discovers that courage isn't the absence of fear but the refusal to let fear decide his fate. Enter Mike Murphy, a hapless but loyal friend whose unexpected arrival turns a dangerous confrontation into the beginning of an unlikely partnership. Together, these launch boys will cruise the waters of early 20th-century Maine, facing perils that test their nerve, their friendship, and their growing sense of themselves. Edward Sylvester Ellis writes with the kinetic energy of a writer who understands exactly what boys want: action, adventure, and the thrill of proving oneself against the odds. For readers who grew up on Hardy Boys or Tom Sawyer, or anyone who longs for a time when friendship was forged in actual danger and a boat could carry you into legend.
