Jan Needle – författare

'Unbidden, Simon saw a face before his eyes, a girl's face with blonde hair. Unbidden, his teeth clamped shut, ground against each other. She was the target.' Simple, lumpy Simon Mason. Of course he's a bully and a liar, even his mother thinks so. And he's picking on that nice Anna Royle, her brother and Rebekka. Or is he? Has Simon been found guilty, sentenced and condemned without a proper hearing? Simon's teacher is determined to find out just who's bullying who. Hostilities reach a head when bully and victim meet for a final confrontation. Will the truth come out in time? Or have too many lies been told?

Midshipman William Bentley awaits trial on charges of treason—until he is offered the chance to avoid prison by serving as first lieutenant to Richard Kaye, now captain of Will's old ship Biter. Will accepts and begins a harrowing journey to Jamaica, unaware that the woman he loves has been sold as an indentured servant to a depraved Jamaican planter.