John Silver had never killed a man. Until now, his charisma, sheer size and, when all else failed, powerful fists had been enough to dispatch his enemies. But on a smoldering deck off the coast of Madagascar, his shipmates dead or dying all around him, his cutlass has just claimed the lives of six pirates. Surrounded by their revenge-thirsty crewmates, Silver fears for his life, but then the pirate captain makes him an offer he can't refuse.On the other side of the world, Joseph Flint, a naval officer wronged by his superiors, plots a bloody mutiny. Strikingly handsome, brilliant but prey to sadistic tendencies, Flint is regarded as the most dangerous bandit on the high seas and fate would have it that his course intersects with Silver's.Together these gentlemen of fortune forge a deadly and unstoppable partnership, steering a course through treachery and betrayal while amassing vast treasure. But the arrival of Selena, a beautiful runaway slave with a murderous past, and Flint's schemes to secure gold for himself trigger a rivalry that will turn comrades-in-arms into sworn enemies. And so the prequel to the beloved classicTreasure Islandunfoldsan epic battle of wits and blades that unravels the mysteries of Robert Louis Stevenson's greatest work on the sweltering seas of the Caribbean.

John Drake trained as a biochemist—before realizing he wasn't much good at science—and worked an anchorman for PharmaVision, a live-TV broadcast service produced by ICI Pharmaceuticals, before leaving to write full-time in 1999. His hobbies and interests include muzzle-loaded shooting, history, and politics. Flint & Silver was inspired by the many unanswered questions left by Robert Louis Stevenson’s much-loved classic, Treasure Island.