In 1805, in the war-ravaged Mediterranean, Henry Doyle, a soldier of fortune−and professional killer−arrives at a squalid tavern in the roughest section of Malta for a meeting with a man he should hate.
His appointment: William Eaton, an American army officer, Indian fighter, and secret agent for Thomas Jefferson. Eaton is plotting a daring venture: the invasion of Tripoli to liberate three hundred Americans held hostage by the Pasha of Tripoli, place a pro-American ruler on Tripoli's throne, and bring freedom to a Muslim country that has known only tyranny.
Eaton has money to spend–for a scout to lead his rag tag invading army of Arabs, European mercenaries, and seven US Marines across five hundred miles of merciless desert to attack an Arab army ten times their size.
Doyle was raised by the Mohawk Indians in the 1770's, so his memories of the destruction of his people by the American army during the Revolution are still painful after twenty-five years–and bitter. He decides to help the Americans for his own purposes.
Eaton's mission throws together two unlikely allies: Doyle and the half-brother he never knew he had, Peter Kirkpatrick, the young, brashly confident captain of the USS Eagle.
Like the country he serves, Peter Kirkpatrick is driven by the need to demonstrate the power of America's ideals the only way he understands: victory over America's enemies. At sea, the victories come easily. He leads the crew of the USS Eagle in ship against ship battles in which American skill and courage are invincible. But when he joins General William Eaton in the invasion of Tripoli, he is plunged into an unfamiliar, unforgiving world that will test him and test America's character as a nation to the breaking point.
For Doyle, the question becomes: do I help my brother−or let him die?
Fans of historical novels will love the tension-filled journey into three mysterious, treacherous expanses: the Mediterranean Sea, the equally vast Sahara Desert, and the ancient, corrupt cities of Egypt−all capable of swallowing up dreams−and lives.