John Stack

The author of the Masters of the Sea series is back with a standalone battle book that will blow all others out of the water....

It could never be an easy alliance. But the arrival of a hostile fleet, larger, far more skilful and more powerful than any Atticus has encountered before, forces them to act together....

A stirring adventure novel set amid the tumultuous clashes between the Roman and Carthaginian empires....

Atticus is the young captain of the Aquila, the flagship of the attack fleet of the Roman navy. But his commander is a young upstart whose position has been purchased rather than earned....

Atticus Perennis, Roman prefect and hero of the seas, is stranded in Carthage. His Roman masters have all but abandoned him, and at his feet gape the jaws of an angry mercenary army....

As mercenaries land in Carthage to claim payment for services rendered, they do not receive what they expect. Lacking a shared culture, structure and even language, this band of warriors has taken up residence in Carthage and is becoming increasingly angry....

Atticus Perennis, prefect of the Roman fleet, waits restlessly in Carthage. His crew is agitated, as they wait on edge for news from Rome, hoping the powers-that-be send more ships to help his Carthaginian forces put down a rebel mercenary army.