Following the loss of his fiancée, Lieutenant Thomas Kydd descends into depression in the latest installment of this riveting nautical-adventure series. Rescued from despair by his close friend, Renzi, Kydd finds life increasingly difficult when he is framed and dismissed from his ship. The pair eke out a pitiful existence in Guernsey, where, in a moment of desperation, Renzi offers his services to the Prince de Bouillon and becomes embroiled in covert operations. Meanwhile, Kydd accepts the captaincy of a privateer and is soon taking many prizes. Kydd longs to rejoin his rightful place in the navy, however, and when he gets his chance, he risks all for revenge and restoration.
I wanted to go to sea ever since I can remember. My mother says that as a toddler I went up to sailors on the street, and on one occasion dragged home a dead seabird because it smelled of the sea! I was entranced when my great uncle Tom Clay, a seaman in square-rigged ships who had sailed around the Horn in the "Cutty Sark", took me over this ship. As a young boy I read everything about the sea and I was especially terrified by a description of a great storm, but longed to go to sea to experience one.
I won a scholarship to a grammar school, but my mind was captivated by seeing low grey shapes far out to sea, outward bound to who knew where. I passed this sight every day on my way to school; my scholastic performance suffered!
In the hope of having the nonsense knocked out of me, my father sent me to a tough sea-training school. This only strengthened my resolve for a life at sea and at fifteen I joined the Royal Navy.
After leaving the Navy (rated Petty Officer) I practised as an educational psychologist. I worked for some time in Hong Kong, where I was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve.
I now live in Devon with my wife and literary partner, Kathy - and two Siamese cats.
