Bristol takes place in Northern California during days leading up to the start of the American Civil War. It has treachery and murder on the high seas, pirates, Dragoon soldiers, undercover operatives, private militias and secret organizations. Orphaned at a young age and although white, Kern was raised by Native Aboriginals in the Australian Outback. After a Whiteman hunting party murdered his Clan, he was forced to kill a crooked peace officer in self-defense. Fleeing Australia, he took a job as a cabin boy onboard a Tea Clipper. As the Lady Beth sails for the Americas, he befriends a passenger named Carl Ver Haven. Days before starting an undercover assignment in San Francisco, Lieutenant Crisp boarded the Lady Beth to search for a missing US Diplomat. Captain La Horn claimed that Carl Ver Haven was lost at sea during a storm. Suspecting foul play, Crisp rescued a recently injured boy and dog locked-away inside the dark-holds of the ship. Complicating matters, French and British governments put a price on Kern's head - Dead or Alive for Murder... As the nation stumbles headlong into the abyss of Civil War back East, Crisp and his men have their hands full in the West. While probing the possible murder of Diplomat Carl Ver Haven, Crisp and his men started their undercover assignment investigating a wealthy rancher - Clifford Ackerland. Ackerland is running for political office and pushing for California to secede from the Union, and he has possible ties with a private militia. If that wasn't enough, Police Chief Crivitz drags Crisp and his team into hunting for a hammer yielding serial killer Caught in the middle of it all, a deaf boy named Kern on the run from murder charges in Australia, and a dog named Bristol intended as a gift for President Lincoln from the Emperor of China.