Gulf Thunder

Tampa Bay was a land full of promise in 1898 to enterprising souls who could see beyond the palmetto- and insect-crowded jungle. Clifford Austin, a young man transplanted by his luckless parents, exhibits a ferocious desire to surpass any competitor as he builds an empire building boats in the nascent town of St Petersburg. He designs and builds small pleasure and commercial craft well into the 1920's, when design and capabilities were progressing in leaps and bounds. His relentless acquisitiveness leads attempts to bed every woman he meets and dominate every man he ever knows. He sets up a string of decisions that lead to a conflict that could be his undoing, but Clifford Austin thrives on conflict, whether internal or external, even if he doesn't necessarily seek it. His intense narcissism and sociopathic tendencies guide his every action in his business and romantic endeavors. Clifford Austin's story is a raucous tale about an explosive time in an untamed future paradise.