Norfolk, VA -- The Baltimore Clipper, the Reckoning, leaves port on a 10-day run to Cadiz, Spain, carrying the U.S. Secretary of War on a diplomatic mission. But a sudden squall send them off course into an area where the winds seldom blow and sailing ships become the Sargasso Sea. The crew soon discovers that the hold is full of illegal weapons, their purpose shrouded in mystery. And that something huge, ancient, and sinister lurks beneath the weeds holding their ship in place.
Don Solosan, who has already proven himself as a fabulous sci-fi writer, comes alive again in this fantastic maritime historical-fiction adventure. Filled with so many time and theme appropriate truths and references to keep the reader guessing where the truth ends and the fiction begins, it takes place in the pre-civil war era, pitting man against creature as well as man against man. This survival of the deeps set in the Sargasso Sea, is also filled with intrigues, plots and an incredible cast of characters. Very High recommend.