The Devil's Admiral

A killer stalks the steamer Kut Sang, and no one aboard is above suspicion. James Augustus Trenholm reflects on the harrowing voyage that began in Manila, where he encountered the dubious Reverend Luther Meeker and a cunning red-headed beggar named Petrak, whose true motives remain obscured beneath mendicant rags. When a sailor turns up murdered, Captain Riggs must navigate a crew fractured by fear and distrust, with Petrak and a man called Buckrow drawing his uneasy gaze. Moore, drawing on his own years as a sailor and war correspondent, transforms the Pacific crossing into a claustrophobic chamber of suspense where every friendly face might conceal a blade. The narrative moves with the swell and crash of the sea itself, building toward revelations that will leave readers gripping the railings of their own imagination.