Set during the catastrophic New Madrid earthquake of 1812, Black Powder is the story of Robert Young, a former captain in the Barbary Wars and his river journey on America's first steamboat to rescue the woman he loves from a gang of river pirates led by his cutthroat nemesis and former commander, Samuel Mason.
With the crew of the New Orleans being held captive by the pirates on Wolf Island, Young must make a terrible bargain to save them. But how will they all save themselves when the island itself begins to sink in the aftermath of another earthquake?