The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century--and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black jack" Geary--a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.

Praise for Series

"The kind of hero Hornblower fans will love!" -WILLIAM C. DIETZ

"The most believable space battles I've ever seen anywhere." -DAVID SHERMAN 

"Thoughtful and exciting...loaded with edge-of-your-seat combat." -ELIZABETH MOON

Review

"In the first of what looks to be a new series, Campbell (a pseudonym of John G. Henry of the Stark's War trilogy), introduces legendary Captain Black Jack Geary, back from the dead (so to speak) after being rescued from his survival capsule launched over 100 years before. The war continues and the Alliance is not faring well. The Syndics once again have the Alliance fleet surrounded and after executing all Alliance officers, they expect that fleet personnel will become fodder for their mining operations. Captain Geary assumes command, and miraculously extricates the fleet. Thus begins a hide-and-seek jaunt around the galaxy, as Jack tries to elude the Syndics long enough to retrain the Alliance fleet in basic unified maneuvers (a skill lost over the years with the loss of experienced officers and their replacement by younger and younger new troops). Ending with an obvious set up for the next installment, Jack has so far eluded the Syndics, but has also discovered that the Syndics may have originally started the war as a response to an encounter with nonhuman intelligences. A good, solid military space action/adventure novel." KLIATT