Birds of Prey (Courtney Family Novels 9)

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... Wilbur Smith's writing captivates his listeners with tale full of passions, rage, and glory. In Birds of Prey, he sets the scene for 1667 when Sir Francis Courteney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait there 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. They are swept 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. Smith presents a generation of the indomitable Courteney's and thrillingly recreates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas "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"--Back cover