Jamaica, Christmas 1679. In Morant Bay, a fleet of buccaneers secretly prepares to attack the Spanish Main, in defiance of the peace treaty between England and Spain. A veteran of the Dutch Wars and Henry Morgan's sack of Panama, Tom Sheppard flees from a brawl in Port Royal with his two young turtle-fishing mates to join the expedition and escape the threat of the gallows. Expecting a quick raid on a Caribbean port, they find themselves carried by events far beyond their original target towards the Great Southern Ocean. The buccaneers struggle against wild seas, rivers, mountains and jungles. Their allies are fierce native tribes who have never surrendered to the Spanish colonists. For Tom, each step takes him further away from the prospect of a respectable career in Europe. Reluctantly, he is dragged deep into the criminal world of squabbling pirate captains on the edge of the known world. His dreams of escape are frustrated at every turn. He must keep his friends safe and come to terms with what he has become or go mad. "Mike Hawthorne has written a classic novel of great literary importance, as it is an instant classic on the order of those novels written by the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson and Alexander Dumas. Hawthorne follows the true exploits of the infamous pirate, Bartholomew Sharp and his band of Buccaneers as they made their way from the Caribbean and along the Pacific coast of South America, with their raids on Spanish towns along the way. The historical accuracy is complete and gives the reader insight into the true lives of pirates in the seventeenth century and the age of sail." "The Hungry Horizon is a very well written novel, and I could not put the book down for a moment, as it is a thrilling tale from beginning to end." -Bernard Keiser, Treasure Hunter and Millionaire Businessman