Running Close to the Wind
Alexandra Rowland
Synopsis
From the author of A Taste of Gold and Iron - Our Flag Means Death meets Six of Crows as a merry band of misfits attempts to get away with treason on the high seas.
Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arashti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world – and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea.
To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar. They are far from happy to see him but, together, they hatch a plan: take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls; fence it; profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Arashti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who’s got his eyes on Avra’s every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; and the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.
But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings – and, more importantly, they’ll be legends.
'A whip-smart, hilarious and exuberant high seas romp' - Freya Marske, bestselling author of A Marvellous Light
Come for the irrepressible gremlin of a narrator, stay for the plot-relevant cake competitions! A whip-smart, hilarious and exuberant high seas rompFreya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light
Simply a masterpiece. Uproariously funny, exquisitely witty, brimming with buckling of swashes and scuttling of butts, an adventure tale peppered with heartfelt moments and the power of friendship like so much grapeshot. Put me in a rowboat and tow me behind the ship if I tell a liePremee Mohamed, author of Beneath the Rising
I’ve never fallen so instantly in love with a story as with Running Close to the Wind by the inimitable Alexandra Rowland. Incredible fun, endearing characters, and a beautiful message wrapped in a sea-serpent bowSeth Haddon, author of Reborn