Set in the late 18th century amidst the backdrop of the American Revolution, Coins for the Boatman follows the young Ignacio Finkleberry as he embarks on a supernatural journey to find his missing father, a soldier in the American Revolution.
The story begins with Ignacio struggling to cope with his father Jedediah's mysterious disappearance and the burden of family secrets. Jedediah, once a respected man, is revealed to have committed grave sins that have doomed him to a fate worse than death. Ignacio learns that his father is being pursued by the ghost of Edward Teach, the infamous pirate Blackbeard, who now gathers souls for the infamous Boatman who ferries a ghostly ship bound for Spirit Prison.
Ignacio's journey is both a physical and spiritual odyssey. He wrestles with questions of forgiveness, sacrifice, and the weight of sins, while trying to navigate a world where the lines between the living and the dead blur. The haunting specters he encounters offer no mercy, forcing Ignacio to confront not only his father's past but his own capacity for sacrifice.