Birds of Prey (Courtney Family Adventures 9)

The year is 1667. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait for one of the treasure-laden galleons of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient. so begins a quest for adventure and the spoils of war that sweeps them from the settlement of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to the Great Horn of Ethiopia far to the north - at a time when international maritime law permitted acts of piracy, rape, and murder otherwise punishable by death. Wilbur Smith introduces a generation of the indomitable Courtneys and thrillingly re-creates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas. From the very first pages, Wilbur Smith spins a colorful and exciting tale, crackling with tension and drama, that builds and builds to a stunning climax. Packed with vivid descriptive passages of the open seas, breathless pacing, and an extraordinary cast of characters, Birds of Prey is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers. A Courtney series adventure - Book 1 in the Birds of Prey trilogy "Africa!" The sound of that mysterious name on his own lips raised goose pimples along his arms and made the thick dark hair prickle on the back of his neck.' A simple mission. A battle for their lives. It is 1667 and the war between the Dutch and the English continues apace. Sir Francis Courtney, his son Hal, and their crew are carried around the southern tip of the African colonies by the good ship Lady Edwinna, licensed to attack and seize the treasure-laden ships of the Dutch East India company. When they capture a Dutch trader and hold the passengers to ransom, Sir Francis hopes only for a good price and a small sense of satisfaction. But this is unlawful territory they sail in.An unexpected betrayal will mean the men on board will afce greater peril than they have ever faced before - and many good men may never see home again... The boy clutched at the rim of the canvas bucket in which he crouched sixty feet above the deck as the ship went about.