Professional disgrace removes Thomas Kydd from his ship after he is framed, leaving him in Guernsey with his naval career apparently broken. Renzi is dealing with covert work of his own, and neither man can rely on the routines or authority that normally structure their service.
Kydd turns to privateering, where prize-taking offers action, profit and command without restoring his place in the Royal Navy. Success in that world gives him something to lose just as a chance for revenge and reinstatement appears. The novel places Kydd between official naval service and the legally sanctioned violence of private war, forcing him to decide whether clearing his name is worth risking the independence he has built outside the service.
Dewey Lambdin
25 books
Alexander Kent
28 books
Patrick O’Brian
21 books
Richard Woodman
37 books
David Donachie
47 books