Having lost hearth and heart to the Stuart Uprising, CATE MACKENZIE, a fugitive war criminal, purchases passage on a ship bound for the West Indies. En route, she is kidnapped-a case of mistaken identity by CAPTAIN NATHANAEL BLACKTHORNE, the pirate captain. Accustomed to blood, musket, and cannon, life aboard the pirate ship isn't the hell Cate expects. She is instantly drawn into Nathan's bloody rivalry against LORD BREASTON CRESWICKE-the man who forced Nathan into piracy-and COMMODORE ROGER HARTE, Creswicke's puppet. They are an "unholy alliance" of ambition and power, Nathan a rat terrier on their heels. The impending arrival of Creswicke's fiance is too much temptation. This is a story of two scarred people, blinded by their defenses. It's the story of trust, or rather, the lack of. It's the story of a loss of faith and disbelief that Providence might ever smile again