Captain Mary, the Queen's Privateer Series

In an age ruled by iron men, in a world of new discovery and Spanish gold, a young Irishwoman named Mary rises from the ashes of her broken childhood with ships and men-at-arms under her command. She and her loyal crew prowl the Caribbean and prosper in the New World for a time until the ugly past Mary has fled from in the old one finds her. Across the great ocean to the east, war is coming. The King of Spain is assembling the most powerful armada the world has ever seen - an enormous beast - to invade England and depose the Protestant "heretic queen." To have any chance against the wealth and might of Spain, England will need every warship, she will need every able captain. To this purpose, Queen Elizabeth spares Mary from the headman's axe for past sins in exchange for her loyalty, her ships and men. Based on true historical events, this is an epic story about war, adventure, love and betrayal. This is a timeless story about vengeance. This is a tale of heartbreak…

She is a child of the gutter, the daughter of a whore. She is the bastard child of the last king of Umaill. With a swift ship and a loyal crew, Mary turns a handsome profit smuggling contraband. Life is good for all until the wretched Síol Faolcháin, a powerful Irish clan jealous of her success, wants what is hers. After Mary takes the head of a clan chieftain, she is forced to flee to the New World. But no one can run from the Síol Faolcháin forever. The clan lures Mary into a trap at an old mill and sets the mill on fire. Mary escapes the flames but her lover, her heart's true joy, dies saving her. Beset with rage, blood for blood becomes Mary's daily, ungodly prayer. Mary though is forced to put aside her thirst for revenge while England and Spain are locked in barbarous war. She is honor bound to answer a call-to-arms from the Tudor Queen. Mary gathers her fighting men and warships and sets out with the English fleet to battle the Spanish colossus. After the two great kingdoms have spilt oceans of blood and spent themselves, Mary returns to Ireland to settle her debts. The Síol Faolcháin will kill her, or she will kill them, but Mary will run no more. Based on true historical events, this is a tale about war and adventure, about love, betrayal and revenge.

In the early 1600's, with Dutch power and prestige on the rise, the Dutch form the world's first publicly-traded corporation whose purpose is to break Portugal's trade monopoly in the Far East. Led by the mysterious and ruthless Gentlemen Seventeen, the Company has its own armies, its own ships and has the power to wage war, annex territory and make laws. In the New World life is better than fair for Mary - until grim misfortune finds her. A freakish wave during a monstrous storm off the coast of Florida sweeps her overboard and she is lost. Mary's plucky, protégé Elizabeth - headstrong, full of Spanish fire and raw ambition, but also very young - assumes command. With prospects dwindling in the West Indies following Mary's death, Elizabeth pledges Mary's ships and men to the Company and agrees to sail to the Spice Islands in the East Indies for nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper - cargo more valuable than gold. When Elizabeth exceeds her authority and ventures to Portuguese-held Macau, she is introduced to a powerful Chinese merchant named Féng Wú - and to the plentiful opium served liberally at the House of a Thousand Pleasures. When Elizabeth is later betrayed a ship is lost and the crew is slaughtered. As Elizabeth falters Mary, having survived her misfortunes, returns. When Mary learns that the Company has seized her ships and men because of Elizabeth's foolishness, she must agree to sail into war alongside the Dutch to free them. Once she fulfills her obligations to the Company, Mary will sail on to Macau where she will introduce herself to the men who murdered her crew... Based on true historical events, this finale to The Butcher's Daughter (A journey Between Worlds) and Blood for Blood (The Uncertain Journey) is a tale about war and adventure, about love, betrayal and revenge.