When 13 year old Ryan finds out he gets to live on a houseboat with an older cousin for the entire summer out in the middle of The Atchafalaya Basin he realizes that the adventures would be far better than anything he could ever conjure up in one of his stories. But once he understands that his older cousin and his cousin's friends are indeed searching for a long lost purposefully sunken pirate ship of gold in a hidden lagoon in the swamps then the adventure draws him deeper in with no backing out. However when you're in the midst of the largest swamp in the country in the late 1970s and the alligator population is in the millions getting close to any kind of treasure leads to one mind boggling adventure after another. When cousin Kyle's friend Dennis seems to have mystical powers over alligators and their abilities to be understood then nothing seems impossible. Other than the wolf-like creature whispered in folklore (The Rougarou) that seems to be sneaking around the lagoon in the middle of the night; silently watching everyone.