Privateer

Connor Stark, a former US Navy officer, is head of private maritime security company Highland Maritime Defense and is in the cross-hairs in Claude Berube’s second geopolitical thriller.

A resurgent Tamil Tiger insurgency has unexpectedly attacked the Sri Lankan navy. When the government issues Stark a letter of marque, Stark and his eclectic band of compatriots accept the challenge only to learn that the Sea Tigers are no ordinary terrorists.

The Sea Tigers have created a new weapon that not even the West possess, fueling it with a rare element. By creating a localized electromagnetic pulse, the group and its ruthless leader, Vanni, can effectively neutralize any ship, airplane, or missile. With this weapon, they are poised to destabilize the region.

Meanwhile, a US Diplomatic Security agent is found murdered, and Iranian-born Damien Golzari is tasked with the investigation. He finds more than just murder, uncovering a conspiracy connected to the Sea Tigers and their new weapon. 

In the forests of Sri Lanka, veteran journalist Melanie Arden gets close to uncovering the Sea Tigers’ mining operation. She learns that they’re exploiting local children as laborers, but before she can find out what they’re mining, she is discovered by the Sea Tigers.

Connor Stark sets out on Syren, a former Navy experimental vessel that is now the flagship of Highland Maritime. He and his team race against the clock to prevent another Sea Tiger attack, aided by an old friend leading a US Navy force. They unite with Golzari and Arden. When the Sea Tigers surround Syren, Stark, Golzari, and Arden must come up with an escape plane, but the Tigers won’t be defeated so easily. Stark will learn firsthand if the relationships he has cultivated will prove strong enough to beat the odds.