The bestselling author returns to his longest-running series, taking fans back to the very beginnings of the Courtney family saga. It is 1784, and a truce has been made between the English and the Dutch, ending the long years of battle on the seas. Henry "Hal" Courtney, son of pirate and merchant Sir Frances Courtney, has become the captain of his own ship, and is soon to become a father himself. Navigating his crew across the waves of danger, Hal sails his ship from the slave markets of Zanzibar to the pirate-riddled waters of the Indian Ocean in search of fortune and treasure. But though the war is over, the final battle has not been won.