Mark M. McMillin books in order

In an era ruled by iron men, in a world of new findings and Spanish gold, a youthful Irishwoman by the name Mary overcomes her broken childhood to assemble a fleet of ships and armed men under her command.

Along with her loyal crew, they roam the Caribbean and conquer the New World, up until Mary’s ugly past comes back to haunt her.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, the King of Spain is planning to invade England and depose the Protestant "heretic queen" with the most vicious armada the world has ever seen.

For England, she will need every warship and every gifted captain if she is to stand a chance against the immense wealth and might of Spain.

To this effect, Queen Elizabeth spares Mary from the headman's axe, on the grounds that she offers her loyalty, ships and men to the service of England.

Based on true historical events, this is a story of war, adventure, love and treachery.

But the Síol Faolcháin has a long reach and Mary is left thirsting for revenge after the lover of a life is killed while attempting to rescue her from a mill fire set by The clan.

For a while, she is forced to set her yearn for blood aside, as England and Spain are embroiled in a bloody battle.

But once the war is over, she returns to Ireland to seek revenge.

It’s either the Síol Faolcháin kills her, or she kills them.

In the early 1600’s, with Dutch power and prestige on the rise, the Dutch form the world’s first publicly-traded corporation whose purpose is to break Portugal’s trade monopoly in the Far East. Led by the mysterious and ruthless Gentlemen Seventeen, the Company has its own armies and warships and has the power to wage war, annex territory and make laws.

In the New World life is better than fair for Mary - until grim misfortune finds her. A freakish wave during a monstrous storm off the coast of Florida sweeps her overboard and she is lost.

Mary’s plucky, protégé Elizabeth - headstrong, full of Spanish fire and raw ambition, but also very young - assumes command. With prospects dwindling in the West Indies following Mary’s death, Elizabeth pledges Mary’s ships and men to the Company and agrees to sail to the Spice Islands in the East Indies for nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper - cargo more valuable than gold.

When Elizabeth exceeds her authority and ventures to Portuguese-held Macau, she is introduced to a powerful Chinese merchant named Féng Wú - and to the plentiful opium served liberally at the House of a Thousand Pleasures. Elizabeth is later betrayed. A ship is lost. A crew is slaughtered.

As Elizabeth falters Mary, having survived her misfortunes, returns. When Mary learns that the Company has seized her ships and men because of Elizabeth’s foolishness, she must agree to sail into war alongside the Dutch to free them. Once she fulfills her obligations to the Company, Mary will sail on to Macau where she will introduce herself to the men who murdered her crew...

There is a very good chance that you have never heard of the name Luke Ryan. There is also a very good chance you didn’t know that Benjamin Franklin owned a private navy during American War of Independence.

At 25 years old, Luke Ryan is already a smuggler, a thief and the master of one of the fastest ships on the water by the name Black Prince.

He operates an enterprising business between Dunkirk and Dublin and is largely unbothered by the ravaging war between the Colonies and Great Britain, until one day when the British seize his ship and condemn his men into Dublin’s infamous Black Dog.

Escaping capture and breaking his men out of jail, Ryan flees to France where he agrees to serve Franklin—the American ambassador to the French Court.

He goes on to become Franklin’s most lethal privateer; inflicting more damage to British shipping than any other commander.

Despite receiving help from the French and gaining one triumphant victory at Saratoga in New York, the American rebels are losing badly as they attempt to gain independence from Great Britain. Their armies are in retreat across the nation.

With the ports blocked and the Continental Navy cleared from the seas, the Revolution is in jeopardy as the British seem to have conquered the fragile nation of America; until Luke Ryan shows up.

Fully armed with his Irishmen, they will sink, destroy or seize over a hundred British ships; taking hundreds of prisoners of war for Franklin and raiding several English and Scottish towns along the coast.

In the coming two years, the Irishmen will rule the oceans with indemnity, until betrayal finally catches up with them.

Captain Luke Ryan’s two-year reign of terror comes to a screeching and sudden end when he is captured by the British, with the help of the French.

Locked in chains to London’s Newgate Prison and standing trial for treason and felony piracy on the high seas in the same court where the notorious Captain William Kidd was convicted eight decades earlier, Ryan is found guilty and sentenced to death.

Queen Marie Antoinette of France, an admirer of Ryan, beseeches King George III who spares his life—sentencing him to life imprisonment instead.

When the war comes to an end and a more understanding Parliament takes over the reins of power, Ryan is released, along with American prisoners of war, by the English.

He as such returns to France albeit with no ships, no men and no money.

Ryan’s fortunes however change when he crosses paths with Joseph Bonaparte, a smuggler and entrepreneur, and his younger brother.

His younger brother isn’t just anybody, but rather a sharp, glory-driven major in the French Army by the name Napoleon Bonaparte.