Barbarians on an Ancient Sea
by Westbrook, William
Published by : McBooks Press (Guilford, Connecticut) Physical details: vii, 284 pages 23 cm ISBN:9781493051366; 1493051369.| Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction | Wes (Browse shelf) | Available | 112642 |
"A Nicholas Fallon sea novel"--Cover.
The night turned prematurely dark as the storm seemed to suck the light out of the day. Captain Nicholas Fallon and his crew aboard the British privateer Rascal stood to the monstrous seas hour after hour, their minds numb and their bodies bloodied from the fight. Suddenly, a light. Only the remarkable seamanship of the Rascal's first mate Beatrice McFarland can save a simple cod fisherman who brings aboard a fantastic tale of gold ransom, kidnapped Christian slaves and the unimaginable cruelty of the Barbary pirates. Thus, begins a superbly written tale of heroism and greed, duplicity and cunning that will thrust Fallon and Beauty into the dangerous currents of American politics and British appeasement of a wicked ruler half a world away. Barbarians on an Ancient Sea is awash in spectacular battle scenes so vivid and concussive that the smell of spent gunpowder hangs about the reader. Bahamian pirates work in tandem to attack salt ships convoyed by Rascal; a French frigate appears within a snow squall like a deadly apparition; a dead American lieutenant is found adrift in a ship's boat, condemned to death by a ruthless pirate who must be lured from his lair and made to pay; and, finally, the armed galleys of the dey of Algiers attack Rascal on the high seas searching for something more precious than the gold ransom she carries - white slaves. Fallon's cunning escape from an Algerian prison and the climactic battle against a vengeful Algerian admiral at the height of a sirocco rank with the best of historical naval fiction.
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