Mettle (Hardscrabble Books)

Lorenzo is a seasoned Cape Cod seaman who is called to captain the behemoth grain freighter Pacific Debenture up the east coast of Africa. Mettle's fast-paced story alternates among Cape Cod, the off-Cape islands, and the Debenture's African ports of call. Woven into the narrative are short, highly charged passages relating to corruption in the Chinese steel industry. G.F. Michelsen sustains the adrenaline rush of his seafaring drama with personal conflicts involving Lorenzo's son, a woman they both love back on the Cape, a stowaway on board, and the Pacific Debenture's rebellious officers.
Ultimately, Lorenzo's extraordinary "mettle" is forced into a life-or-death confrontation with the Chinese "metal" with shocking results.