8. PIRATES EXECUTE THE VERDICT - THE RED RUBY SERIES
A ship of death adrift off the coast of Africa… That’s how Captain Simon Verbeeck, the scourge of pirates, first encounters the Sea Serpent, a slave ship ravaged by a brutal mutiny. Corpses litter the deck, and a chilling silence hangs in the air, broken only by the eerie meow of a lone cat. What began as a simple resupply stop becomes a terrifying plunge into chaos when Verbeeck’s own ship, the Red Ruby, is seized by the mutineers. They are a band of freed slaves led by the enigmatic and ruthless Joost van der Leeuwen.
Left stranded and outmaneuvered, Verbeeck is plunged into a desperate struggle for survival. Stripped of his ship, his weapons, and most of his crew, he’s forced to navigate treacherous landscapes and navigate dangerous allegiances. He discovers that Van der Leeuwen isn’t just another pirate as his twisted ideals and thirst for power set him apart.
Haunted by betrayal and fueled by a burning desire to reclaim what’s his, Verbeeck embarks on a relentless pursuit across the perilous seas, forging uneasy alliances with unlikely allies. The stakes rise as he’s thrust into a desperate fight against not only Van der Leeuwen and his men, but the very brutal nature of man and thus fighting against forces far more dangerous than the pirates themselves. A thrilling voyage of vengeance and survival ensues, where honor and justice clash with desperation and greed, all while a shocking truth simmers beneath the surface. Can he win back his ship or will his own ruthless nature ultimately cost him everything? Prepare for a tale where the line between hero and villain is as tempestuous as the ocean itself.
