Call the Reavers

A Restoration-era caper, shielding the innocent.

The Thames is frozen solid in January 1686. But Lizzie Foxe is in a white-hot rage after rescuing escapees from a slave ship.

To punish the investors in the illegal slave ship, she sets out to execute a momentous heist. She intends to take what they value most: their money. Her goal: recompense for the rescued innocents.

But she must tread carefully. The king of England holds a strict monopoly for carrying slaves to New World plantations and tolerates no interference. He has not legal control of the people Lizzie rescued. Yet any mistaken attention from the king will destroy her fiancé, Rowland Foxe, the Earl of Marborne. He already has his own compromising troubles with King James.

Ned, Lizzie's brother, seeks to help but is terrified his past actions are catching up with him. Several prominent paintings hanging in wealthy London mansions are his forgeries, made when the Foxes were stone broke and starving. Exposure of even one of his forgeries will wreck his career and destroy the art dealer who sold them. So, Ned must undertake crucial heists of his own.

Lizzie battles treacherous politics, bad weather, and outrageous odds while dodging the king's spies. She has identified most of the illicit investors but is still stalking the worst of the miscreants, the hideous and infuriating Wolfric Molewood. She is, however, as relentless as Hecuba, battling injustice for the people she's rescued. She employs more disguises than a Twelfth Night fête and meets characters as slippery as the frozen Thames. Just as she is launching her intricate heist, she and Ned are thrust into dire jeopardy. But the reward-the future safety of the rescued captives-is worth every risk.

The Foxes' capers must adhere to their Restoration Rules. Lizzie and Ned have the wit and courage to pursue justice under Rule #3, Reave When Sins Are Ripe. Yet every sinner they discover adds to their family's imminent danger.