Naval Fiction

Treacherous Moon is the twelfth Carlisle and Holbrooke novel. The series follows the two sea officers through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies prior to their bid for independence.

The year 1807 starts out badly for Capt. Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy. In The King's Marauder, his frigate HMS Reliant has a new captain, he's living at his father's estate at Anglesgreen, among spiteful neighbors and family, and he's recovering from a wound suffered in the South Atlantic. At last, there's a bright spot. When fit, Admiralty awards him a new commission; not a frigate but a clumsy, slow two-decker fourth-rate 50. Are his frigate days over for good? Lewrie's ordered to Gibraltar, but Foreign Office Secret Branch's spies and manipulators have use for him, again!

Having spent the past few years on missions in the Caribbean, Captain Bliven Putnam is all but ready to retire and settle down at home in Connecticut with his wife, Clarity. But as the Texas Revolution ignites and tensions in the Gulf of Mexico rise, Putnam is sent orders for a secret cruise that could decide the fate of their rebellion. American settlers in Texas have revolted against an increasingly tyrannical Mexican government.

Extreme Extortion... After rescuing a downed American submarine behind enemy lines, the naval mercenaries had their redemption. Or so they thought… Led by expelled U.S. officer Jake Slate, the growing cast of misfits expected lucrative salvage or combat missions. What they got instead was a gun to their heads. CIA tyrant, Olivia McDonald thrusts them between the United States and Turkey to prevent the NATO navies from clashing over the Syrian invasion. Can they subdue the Turks, escape the CIA’s control, and, if forced, attack the USS Lincoln battle group? Sprinting on a razor’s edge,...

A historical adventure book set in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century. Set amidst the tempestuous waves of the Caribbean, "Betrayal on the Spanish Seas" plunges readers into a world of naval warfare, daring escapades, and unexpected romance. As the iconic Spanish galleon Santa Maria faces the audacious attack of the English ship Venture, commanded by the fearless pirate Sam Chartres, the line between enemy and ally blurs, igniting passion in the midst of chaos. The story begins aboard the Santa Maria as it is ruthlessly assailed by Captain Sam Chartres, a rogue pirate whose ...

It is 1801, and President Thomas Jefferson has assembled a deep-water navy to fight the growing threat of piracy, as American civilians are regularly kidnapped by Islamist brigands and held for ransom, enslaved, or killed, all at their captors' whim. The Berber States of North Africa, especially Tripoli, claimed their faith gave them the right to pillage anyone who did not submit to their religion.

With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal. Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands.

"Hazardous Duty" is volume three of the Jonathan Kinkaid Series where Kinkaid takes command of the 18-gun sloop of war, Ranger, tasked with scouting duties for the Continental Fleet. Braving not only the foul and frigid weather of northern waters, Kinkaid must contend with an inexperienced crew, a badly leaking ship, and personality clashes among senior officers; one of them being the bold and aggressive John Paul Jones, in command of the Frigate Alfred.After taking some valuable prizes off the shores of Long Island and Nova Scotia, the American Fleet is dogged by a large and powerful ...

Amphibious warfare was in its infancy in the mid-18th century–it was the poor relation of the great fleet actions that the navy so loved.... That all changed in 1758 when the British government demanded a campaign of raids on the French Channel ports. Command arrangements were hastily devised and a whole new class of vessels was produced at breakneck speed: flatboats, the ancestors of the landing craft that put the allied forces ashore on D-Day.

In this seminal story of naval life during the Napoleonic wars, Frederick Marryat's young hero embarks upon a life at sea and finds it to be a rough school indeed. Simple's trials and triumphs, with his faithful mentor, Terence O'Brien, at his side, mirror Marryat's personal experiences. Among the exciting events depicted are the hand-to-hand combat of "cutting-out" missions, the devastating hurricane off St. Pierre, and a mutiny aboard the Rattlesnake.

The War Below is a dramatic account of extraordinary heroism, ingenuity, and perseverance—and the vital role American submarines played in winning the Pacific War. Focusing on the unique stories of the submarines Silversides, Drum, and Tang—and the men who skippered and crewed them—James Scott takes readers beneath the waves to experience the thrill of a direct hit on a merchant ship and the terror of depth charge attacks.

For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.

Secrets, storms, and stolen glances. A pirate queen and a naval officer are forced into a deadly game where betrayal could cost everything. She was sent to hunt the pirate queen. She never expected to fall for her. Captain Brynn Vale is known as the Shadow of the Caribbean — untouchable, uncatchable, and unstoppable. But when she discovers a stowaway aboard the Midnight Serpent, she realizes her greatest threat isn’t a Royal Navy warship, it’s the woman hiding in her hold. Lieutenant Amara Thorne was sent to hunt the most dangerous pirate on the high seas. But nothing could prepare ...

This fourth installment in the Jonathan Kinkaid historical fiction series finds our daring American Navy Captain and his seagoing patriots taking the news of our great victory over the British at Saratoga to Benjamin Franklin in Paris, resulting in a treaty between France and our Independent Colonies, and a French fleet to American shores. With spies and saboteurs, intrigue and villainy, this masterfully written tale is another triumph of high-seas adventure in the Winston style, as a more confident and newly married Kinkaid wrestles with his own demons as well as enemies of the cause. ...

Their honor compels them to stand by their families. But can the ties of blood outlast the terrors of the Civil War? New Orleans, March 1860. Jeremy Bennett is determined to help his wife locate her enslaved brother who escaped. But with unrest in the East and rumors of secession on Southerners’ lips, they’re forced to return home to San Francisco and safety. And though he hires a man to continue the search in their absence, Jeremy fears the coming conflict will make finding her lost kin impossible. Washington Territory, April 1861. Jonathan Bennett can’t ignore his conscience. Firmly...

Early in 1968, a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine sank in the waters off Hawaii, hundreds of miles closer to American shores than it should have been. Compelling evidence strongly suggests that the sub sank while attempting to fire a nuclear missile.

The first in an action-packed spy series introducing Lieutenant Dragan Kelly. It is 1942. HMS Visigoth has been torpedoed off the coast of German occupied Norway. Sole survivor Lieutenant Dragan Kelly finds himself behind enemy lines, unsure who to trust. The Norwegian resistance share rumours about a mysterious Nazi plant where an Armageddon weapon of terrifying power is under construction. Should Kelly escape to Russia or stay and investigate it? And what of the stunningly beautiful but enigmatic resistance fighter Sybilla? Kelly falls in love with her, but is she all she claims to be? ...

"A Renaissance spy adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Steve Freeman has done well to cleverly interweave suspense, history, culture, and a mystery to keep the reader engaged. Highly recommend for those that enjoy action historical fiction in the times of the famous Medici family and Leonardo da Vinci." Reedsy Discovery (five-star review) During the height of the Renaissance, a fleet of mysterious ships invades the Italian coast, threatening the Republic of Florence. Commissioned by ruler Lorenzo de’ Medici to discover the source of the invasion and mount a defense, ...

In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril, setting the stage for one of the most heroic rescue stories ever lived. On February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, were in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic’s mercy.

The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.