Description

“A planet-stomping space opera that bursts off the page like a tactical nuke.”
–John Birmingham, author of Weapons of Choice

The Hammer Worlds–the most brutal and oppressive interstellar government in the universe–have hijacked the Federated Worlds cruise ship Mumtaz, seizing its valuable terraforming cargo and damning its passengers to mining the moons of the prison planet known as Hell.

For Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort and the crew aboard deep space scout vessel 387, the mission is clear: infiltrate enemy territory, locate the Mumtaz, and rescue the prisoners.

The odds are appalling, and the damage will probably be fatal, but victory is nonnegotiable–especially for Helfort, whose mother and sister were on the Mumtaz.

And Michael Helfort will be damned if he’ll let his family rot on the moons of Hell.

About the Author

Graham Sharp Paul, born in Sri Lanka, received an honors degree in archaeology and anthropology from Cambridge University and an MBA from Macquarie University. He joined the Royal Navy in 1972, qualifying as a mine warfare and clearance diving officer before reaching the rank of lieutenant commander with the Navy’s mine warfare flotilla. In 1983 he transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, serving in its Trials & Assessments Unit and Clearance Diving School before transferring to civilian life in 1987. Paul worked for two Australian companies in the banking and media sectors before setting up his own business development and corporate finance consultancy in 1991. Over the next twelve years, he worked on a worldwide range of projects. In 2003 he gave up corporate life to write full-time. Paul lives in Sydney with his wife, Vicki, and their three sons.