1783: Back from the war in the Americas, young navy veteran Alan Lewrie finds London pure pleasure. Then, at Plymouth, he boards the trading ship Telesto to find out why merchantmen are disappearing in the East Indies. Between the pungent shores of Calcutta and teeming Canton, Lewrie--reunited with his scoundrel father--discovers a young French captain, backed by an armada of Mindanao pirates, on a plundering rampage. While treaties tie the navy's hands, a King's privateer is free to plunge into the fire and blood of a dirty little war on the high South China Sea. Ladies' man, officer, and rogue, Alan Lewrie is the ultimate man of adventure, and Dewey Lambdin writes historical adventure fiction on par with C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian. In the worthy tradition of Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin, Lewrie's exploits echo with the sounds of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare.