Hiding in enemy waters during a secret mission, the U.S.S Amundsen, loaded with cruise missiles, is trapped under the polar icepack and faces Russian discovery. When inexplicable events occur during this fateful patrol, the crew question the skill and judgment of their Black skipper. Complicating matters, to survive the Captain and Executive Officer must unravel a series of subtle clues aboard their submarine, then decide what to do with a new set of threatening facts.

In Destiny's Children, historian Roger Herst delivers a novel uniting east and west through the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and the convergence of two dramatically dissimilar families. Manchu artillery deserter Wong Po-ching survives execution, escapes to America, and makes his way to California's Sierra Nevada, where he finds work on the Central Pacific Railroad. Irishman Theo Gallager, superintendent of construction, is a proud man who eschews authority. As a result of their mutual success laying track through the tortuous granite of the high Sierra, the two men are awarded join ownership of a previously worked gold mine and become reluctant partners. Harriet Horn, a transplanted Boston Brahman, and Theo come to Wong's aid, eventually marry, then along with Wong and his new Chinese wife, form a lasting family bond. Throughout this novel readers are introduced to larger-than-life historical figures, including Leland Stanford and Mark Twain. Scorned immigrants during this hostile era survive to charter a new chapter in California's destiny.