Showing results for "Clay" in War & Military

Set in the years before and during the 1st Punic War, the series follows the exploits of a young, hot-headed swordsman. From a lad on his father's farm, to a Legion training camp, to the Capital of the Republic, Alerio Sisera learns that sharp steel and quick reflexes are not always a Legionary's best assets.

Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin return from India after almost two years away, impatient to see loved ones at home, but fate has other ideas. In the middle of the Atlantic they cross paths with a huge Franco-Spanish fleet on its way to the Caribbean, and find themselves drawn into one of the greatest naval campaigns in history.

When quiet high schooler Sara Beth Parker disappears in the night from her home in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Detective Angela Cole is assigned the case. A black woman in a department full of white men, she’s made a career for herself working harder and being better than the badges beside her. But when leads begin to dry up and her own peers start to question whether Parker was taken or simply ran away, Cole feels herself being pushed to the edge. And when an old colleague introduces her to Jackson, she’ll break her own rules and place any hope of finding Sara Beth in his hands.

In the capital of the Republic, politics and scandal are normal. When a powerful citizen conspires with outside forces, normal becomes treason. Welcome to the world of 266 BC. Lance Corporal Alerio Sisera is in transit to the southern Legion. When thugs from a protection racket grab his travel bag, Alerio's plan is simple. Locate the gang leader and negotiate with him. Unexpectedly, the hunt leads Alerio to a conspiracy, the murder of two Senators, and a treaty that threatens to destroy the Republic.

Newly returned from the Battle of the Nile, Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are soon in action again, just when he has the strongest reason to wish to abide in England. But a powerful French naval squadron is at large in the Indian Ocean, attacking Britain’s vital East India trade.

256 BC: When a patrol boat of butchered Legionaries washes up on a beach, Lance Corporal Alerio Sisera volunteers to be the scout for the Legion's response. But, he runs into complications and is forced to exceed his assignment. Suddenly, he finds himself in a blood feud with a powerful enemy, posted at a besieged harbor garrison, and fighting for his life against overwhelming odds. Reinforcements are not coming. Surrounded by enemies, it's up to Alerio to battle with his gladius while standing in bloody water.

As the long war with France enters its eighth year, there is trouble in the Baltic. Napoleon is busy recruiting new allies to cut off Britain’s vital trade in naval supplies. Captain Alexander Clay is given a new command: the Royal Navy frigate Griffin, and sent ahead of the British fleet on a vital diplomatic mission.

On a hot night in the Caribbean, a lone Royal Navy ship commanded by a sadistic captain, succumbs to bloody mutiny. With the Peace of Amiens imminent, Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin are sent to track down and recapture the rebel ship. But when they arrive in the Leeward Islands, they find that much more is at stake. Smuggling and corruption seem to be rife in those sunlit waters, while ghosts from the past stir in the shadows.

Spring 1803 finds Captain Alexander Clay and his crew dispersed and struggling to adjust to a life of peace at home. Meanwhile, in the wider world, Europe is sliding back towards war.

A Sloop of War, the second novel in the Alexander Clay series, is set on the island of Barbados, where the temperature of the politics, prejudices, and amorous ambitions are matched only by the sweltering heat of the climate.

Newly promoted to Post Captain, Alexander Clay returns home from the Caribbean to recover from wounds sustained at the Battle of San Felipe. However, he is soon called upon by the Admiralty to take command of the frigate Titan and join the blockade of the French coast. But the Titan will be no easy command with its troubled crew that had launched a successful mutiny against its previous sadistic captain.

"Jealousy is but one road to the preordained," Hektor offered. "Are you a seer, now?" Alerio challenged. "No, sir. I'm a youth who worries about how you're being treated." "Colonel, we're all apprehensive about what fate their jealousy is driving you towards," Centurion Pelle added. "I've sworn a Tribune's Oath to a God and a General," Alerio informed them. He tugged the crested helmet down over his head before saying. "We can sit with bowls of camp stew and talk about our feelings later. Right now, I have a battle to win." Welcome to 255 B.C.

Alerio Sisera had made killers out of a handful of guardsmen to win over one Captain. The other three Captains were in their regions and hundreds of miles away. And each would require a different task to give Alerio an endorsement as a Military Attaché. Tribune Sisera prayed for an opportunity to get all four Captains in one place. He should have remembered Aesop's warning, "Be careful what you wished for, lest you get it."

There are anxious words to describe being in unfathomable trouble. A feeling of pressure, an emotion of being in over-your-head, and a sense of being smothered. Legion Centurion Alerio Sisera was drowning in the sea and experiencing all of them. From black, to gray, to green water overhead, Alerio transitioned through the ocean layers as he swam upward. Lungs screaming for air, and his chest heaving, his body threatened to take in a breath. It became a competition between the urges of his lungs

Welcome to the spring of 258 BC. The expanding war with the Qart Hadasht Empire is changing the Republic's military supply structure. Supplying scattered Legions and far-flung naval squadrons is overextending the provincial quartermaster system. Growing awkwardly to handle the needs, the military organizations are evolving, slowly. Now evil men have found a way to profit from the disorganization.

Infantry tactics at a sea battle offer dangerous options. Run the boarding ramp into the tips of the enemy's blades. Or fall into the gap between warships. Welcome to 260 B.C. Death waits at both, but if you make it to the enemy's deck you have a fighting chance. With the sea, you are doomed by the weight of your armor as soon as you splash down. There is another option: Be the first Legionary to board an enemy ship. You might surprise and disrupt the Empire soldiers. And win medals and accolades. Or you might die as an unjust sacrifice.

Welcome to summer 258 B.C.