As the luxury China Belle enters Australian waters, its passengers have little idea of the tragedy that awaits them, particularly Mal Willoughby, who is returning to his native land to start a new life with his Chinese wife Jun Lien. The crew, led by First Officer Jake Tussup, mutinies off the coast of Australia, taking the passengers hostage. By the time the horrific ordeal is over and the crew have escaped to the goldfields of the Palmer River, Mal's beautiful wife is dead and the lives of all the survivors have been altered for ever.

A close bond develops between the passengers as they try to put the traumatic experience behind them and as Mal struggles to come to terms with his grief, he vows to hunt down Jake and his accomplices and avenge his wife's death. Mal's search for justice takes him from the exotic mountains of China, to the rising new town of Carins and on to the squalid and teeming goldfields; but will he ever be able to break free from the past