That’s where the real adventure begins. Bristol’s had plenty of bad luck in his life. Press-ganged into serving aboard a British vessel, he’s felt the cruel captain’s lash on his back. Then, freed from his servitude by pirates, his good fortune immediately takes a bad turn . . . as the pirates accuse him of murder—and leave him to die on a deserted island. Now all he has left are a few drops of water, a gun, and just enough bullets to put himself out of his misery.But Bristol’s luck is about to change. Finding himself in the unexpected company of a fiery woman and a crafty crew, he unsheathes his sword, raises a pirate flag of his own, and sets off to make love and war on the open seas.In his early twenties, Hubbard led the two-and-a-half-month, five-thousand-mile Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition. He followed that with the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition near San Juan, Puerto Rico, in which he completed the island’s first mineralogical survey as an American territory. It was during these two journeys that Hubbard became an expert on the Caribbean’s colorful history—an expertise he drew on to write stories like Under the Black Ensign.  “A riveting tale of sailing ships, piracy and the high seas.” —Midwest Book Review* A National Indie Excellence Award Winner

    Michael Howell was utterly apolitical and genetically programmed for survival, a Levantine of mixed origin who possessed profitable business enterprises throughout the Middle East and an Italian mistress as his office manager. Life was sweet for Michael Howell until, one night in Damascus, he discovered that his factories had become the clandestine operations base of the Palestine Action Force, a fanatical terrorist organization dead-set on destroying Israel. Suddenly, Howell is caught in the middle with nowhere to run. Eric Ambler is the recipient of four Gold Dagger Awards and one Silver. In 1975, he was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.