"Detective Isaac Bells wife has said that he is always in the wrong place at the right time. This is certainly the case when Bell thwarts the attempted assassination of a U.S. Senator shortly after meeting the man. This heroic rescue is just the start of the mystery for Bell, who suspects that the would-be assassins have a much larger and more dangerous agendaone involving the nearly-constructed Panama Canal. While the senator supports the building...

Backing out of an assassination attempt he does not agree with, top-secret operative Nick Stone is threatened by his bosses to fly to Panama and finish the job or the young orphan in his care will be killed.

Fourteen-year-old Mateo and other Caribbean islanders face discrimination, segregation, and harsh working conditions when American recruiters lure them to the Panamanian rain forest in 1906 to build the great canal.