A young Englishman embarks on history's most daring naval assault Thomas Spyre wields his rapier like an expert, but his blade has never drawn blood. A surgeon's apprentice in Elizabethan London, young Thomas spends his days learning the most modern medical techniquesfrom amputation to bloodlettingand by night he tries to keep his master from gambling away their earnings at bear fights. When a bad bet leaves their purse emptier than ever before, Thomas fears they are destined for the poorhouse. But a strange stroke of luck is about to whisk them away from England toward one of the greatest adventures of all time. Thomas and his master are called upon by Sir Francis Drake, the legendary swashbuckler, to accompany him on a daring raid of the Spanish port of Cadiz. As a surgeon aboard the ship, Thomas will have to learn the nature of manhood, medicine, battle, and espionageall while the cannons fire.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 14-17 years.

There are 198 pages in this book. This book was published 2015 by Open Road Media Teen & Tween .

Michael Cadnum is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for adults and young adults, including the contemporary novels Rundown, Heat , and Edge (all Viking) and the historical novel In a Dark Wood (Orchard/Puffin). Michael Cadnum lives in Albany, California. copyright (c) 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.