Amid the shouts and the cheers and the splashing of oars, it was pandemonium. "Nome or bust!" I yelled.

In the shadow of the Arctic Circle, Dawson City is burning down, changing forever the lives of thousands in the Klondike goldfields. All the talk is of Nome, nearly two thousand miles away, where gold has been discovered in the beach sands.

Jason Hawthorn is itching to join the new rush. He and his brothers have been cheated out of their sawmill, and Jason has vowed to buy it back. A race to Nome has been announced, with a $20,000 prize. Jason's partner in his canoe is the girl he loves, Jamie Dunavant, freshly returned from the States, as she promised she would.

The Great Race across Alaska will be a grueling test for the two of them as they face the hazards of the Yukon River, two very dangerous men Jason has reason to fear, and the terrors of the open sea. Only their combined skills, courage, and mutual devotion can pull them through.