Under sealed orders for a long, arduous voyage, Captain Daniel Swift dispenses shipboard law with an iron fist to forge an efficient crew from a ragged group of unwilling, inexperienced "volunteers."
Jan Needle, a native of Portsmouth, England, has had a lifelong interest in naval history. He is the author of four acclaimed novels under the pseudonym Frank Kippax, and also has a highly successful career as a TV scriptwriter and, under his own name, as a writer of award-winning children's fiction.
