Of Sea and Sand: A Novel of the First Barbary War

Lieutenant William O Rourke is an adept agent in the United States nascent espionage service based in Syracuse. When the ruler of Tripoli puts a bounty on his head, he is captured by Barbary pirates and thrown aboard a ship bound for North Africa. There he encounters an unlikely mix of people, including the enigmatic daughter of the pirate captain.

Camilla has never been in charge of her own fate. Her mother was an Algerian slave and her father a corsair. Her experiences simply have not prepared her for a man like O Rourke. Camilla sees in him a nobility of spirit that she has never seen in her otherwise brutal life.

The close confines of the ship give them no chance to avoid their attraction for one another. No matter the heartache in store for them, the pair is helpless to their feelings. From there, the story unfolds on an epic scale against the backdrop of the political intrigues of the various powers fighting for control of Tripoli. O Rourke and Camilla are tragically separated. O Rourke traverses the Egyptian and Libyan deserts in the historical land march to defeat Tripoli. Camilla finds herself far south, among the Berbers, yet striving to find her own path in a world of chaos. Against all odds, they find each other again in the battle-torn city of Derne he at the center of the American navy s stronghold and she a captive of an evil and power-hungry man. O Rourke must now help Camilla escape, even if it means giving her up forever.