Barely months after returning from the Adriatic, Captain Sir James Merriman is enjoying some rare time with his wife and children. But his nation is exhausted by an apparently endless war and Napoleon’s continental system is denying Britain crucial supplies. Worse still, the French 80-gun ship Hercule has captured numerous British ships near the Cape of Good Hope. Captained by a wily veteran known as the lone wolf, the Hercule presents Merriman with his greatest adversary yet.

Joining his loyal first officer Alfred Shrigley aboard the newly-refitted Thunder, Merriman journeys south to capture or destroy the Hercule. An unexpected diversion leads him onto Portuguese soil and a crucial rendezvous with an old friend – the resourceful double agent, Charles Moreau. With no time to lose, Merriman must meld inexperienced men and hardened veterans into an effective fighting outfit. Along the way, he and his crew encounter slave ships, pirates, disease, storms and numerous allies and enemies before a fateful clash with their elusive nemesis.