"They were lost. All aboard the 'Sirius' knew it now. 'Damn and blast this fog!' cursed Lucien Windjammer under his breath. 'Silence!' he roared out loud. 'For the love of God, not a man shall speak!' An uneasy quiet fell over the crew as he struck a note from the bell.

Too late. Ahead of them the fog parted briefly. As the fog rolled back, the blunt face of a cliff jumped skywards. 'Reef! Dead ahead. Rocks!' And in that moment all aboard the 'Sirius' knew that awesome monument would be their gravestone." The fortunes of the trading House of Windjammer are inextricably tied to their ships. And when the ship Sirius goes down, the House is dragged down with it.

At the age of sixteen, Adam Windjammer is forced to become a man as his family is torn apart round his ears.

Trying to protect his mother and his sisters from the predatory business clutches of the banker Van Helsen, and also from his inept and greedy uncle Augustus, Adam feels besieged on all sides.

Who can help him now his father has gone? Adam feels only too hard the weighty burden of the Windjammer ring.And Adam can't help being suspicious too of Gerrit, the long-serving family accountant, creeping out at all hours of the night .

Adam gets a huge shock when he finally understands the shady and risky business that Gerrit has become involved in.

An incredibly colourful and atmospheric novel that paints an evocative picture of living in the bustling, often dangerous sailing port of Amsterdam, where so many livelihoods are tied to the arrival (or not) of the latest ship.

Fast-paced and incredibly action-packed, and touching on the tulip mania that enveloped Amsterdam, it will have both boy and girl readers on the edges of their seats as Adam faces the latest twist that Fate deals him.