Amongst the debauched aristocracy of eighteenth-century London, life is easy for the handsome young Jack Absolute. The only risks he faces appear on the cricket field, in the billiard hall, or in the boudoirs of the city’s courtesans. Yet despite his carousing, he hopes for something more, and plans to give it all up for college in Cambridge and a promising career. His future success is assured, as long as he can stay out of trouble for one more night. . . .

            Which is, of course, impossible.

            His fortunes forever altered by one tragic evening, Jack sets out to find a different sort of fortune in the New World. He soon discovers a life far different from what he experienced in the taverns of London. And the lessons he’s about to learn on the battlefield and in the dense forests of Indian territory promise not financial success, but something much more important: survival.

But to survive, he must first learn to kill. To come of age, Jack must be blooded.

Through bloody duels, battles, frantic escapes, and a brutal winter in the wilds of the new continent, this smashing prequel to last year’s acclaimed Jack Absolute tells the story of how this irresistible hero earned his reputation as the “red-coated James Bond” (Books in Canada).