In the days leading up to the War of Spanish Succession (also known as Queen Anne’s War), a frigate from England’s Navy is dispatched on a secret mission to the Americas. The Captain’s orders are simple: stop the French and Spanish treasure fleets from reaching Europe and funding the coming war against England. How he is commanded to carry out those orders, however, is something no English Naval Officer had ever been ordered to do.
Captain Henry (Harry) Hastings is one of the youngest captains in King William III’S navy. Harry is ordered to disguise himself and his crew as pirates and sink or capture as many French and Spanish treasure ships in the Americas as possible without it looking like England is behind the attacks. Harry has to find a way to carry out his orders, avoid capture, and prevent France and Spain from discovering that he is not really a pirate at all – something that would start a war across Europe before England was fully prepared.
From an uninhabited island in the Bahamas, Harry begins a campaign of terror, theft, and destruction that leaves the Spanish colonial governors begging for help from Spain. From his flagship, the King’s Ransom, Harry attacks treasure fleets and Spanish colonies. France and Spain feel the loss of the missing treasure, and when war breaks out across Europe, only England and her allies are prepared to wage a lengthy and costly campaign.
Dublin 1941. A brutal murder. Mistaken identity. And barman Eamon Foley is running for his life.
Nine months later Foley is in a crowded pub, and his brother-in-law is shot dead.
Fourth Book in the Southern Swallow Series finds the Academician Li K'ai-men in exile on Hai-nan Island. China has a new invasion threat. A showdown between ingenuity and technology explodes as the Sung Dynasty tries to preserve itself.
