John Silver had never killed a man. But on a smouldering deck off the coast of Madagascar, his cutlass has just claimed the lives of six pirates. With their comrades intent on revenge, Silver's promising career in the merchant navy looks set to come to an end - until the pirate captain makes him an offer he can't refuse. On the other side if the world Joseph Flint, a naval officer wronged by his superiors, plots a bloody mutiny - a chosen path that will ultimately lead him to Silver. Together these gentlemen of fortune forge a deadly partnership. But the arrival of Selena, a beautiful runaway slave with a murderous past, triggers sexual jealousy that will turn the best of friends into sworn enemies.