They hijacked her ship. They took her crew. They have no idea who they’re dealing with.
On the eve of her retirement, veteran Captain Kateryna Volkova is guiding the VLCC Stellar Horizon on one last run. But in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Guinea, her final voyage becomes a nightmare. A ruthless and highly disciplined team of modern pirates, led by the charismatic and brilliant ideologue Omar Hassan, seizes control of her vessel. The takeover is swift, brutal, and technologically sophisticated. The world’s most powerful nations are brought to the negotiating table.
But the ransom demand is a lie. The negotiation is a diversion. Volkova, a prisoner on her own bridge, uncovers Hassan’s true, horrifying plan: the tanker has been turned into a two-million-barrel bomb, and its target is a strategic LNG terminal. This is not a hijacking; it’s a martyrdom mission designed to cripple the global economy and unleash an apocalypse of fire. Trapped and cut off, Volkova’s defiance becomes the world’s last, secret line of defense as she engages in a deadly battle of wits against a man who has nothing left to lose.
With the clock ticking down to a global catastrophe, the British government greenlights Operation Neptune’s Spear—a desperate, last-ditch hostage rescue attempt. An elite team of SAS commandos, led by the battle-hardened Hex Davies, is sent into the heart of a perfect storm to board the floating fortress. Their mission is deemed impossible, a blind assault against a superior force. Their only hope lies in their alpha source—a ghost on the inside, a voice on a wire, the ship’s unbreakable captain. In a claustrophobic race against time, one woman’s courage and one team’s skill are all that stand between a peaceful world and Hassan’s sermon of fire.
With more than 100 novels published, Gaurav Garg has established himself as a master storyteller, captivating a wide and devoted readership. His works, spanning both fiction and non-fiction, are known for their immersive narratives, compelling characters, and thought-provoking themes.