Clarissa Oakes #15

As the book opens, Captain Jack Aubrey sails away from the hated Australian prison colonies in his favourite vessel the “Surprise”, pondering on middle age and sexual frustration. He soon becomes aware that he is out of touch with the mood and thoughts of his crew. They know, as he does not, that “Surprise” has a stranger on board; what they do not know is that the stranger is potentially as dangerous as a light in the powder magazine itself.