The award-winning author of Captain Fantom returns with the origin story of the notorious seventeenth-century mercenary.

Carlo Fantom spoke thirteen languages—a skill that proved useful as he traveled widely to sell his brutal services to any party who would pay him. This novel, written in the form of his personal memoirs, takes readers on a journey to his younger days—from the Croatian farm where he was born and raised to Venice, where he sails to collect a ransom for hostages—and offers both an intriguing look at how his character was formed and an action-packed account of his earliest adventures.

"Reginald Hill's stories must certainly be among the best now being written." —The Times Literary Supplement