Editorial note: "John Ben and the Thunder Fleet", by Alejandro Benson

MBA Ediciones S.L. presents JOHN BEN AND THE THUNDER FLEET by Alejandro Benson With no literary pretensions or awards of any kind, John Ben and the Thunder Fleet arrives to refresh period and adventure narrative. Caribbean, 1760. Captain John Ben, a British naval officer commanding the Storm —a frigate with 46 bronze cannons—, grows tired of bleeding for a king who does not know his name. He calls his crew together in the middle of a storm and proposes a pact: they sign a manifesto of brotherhood —booty split equally, a vote for every man—, cast the royal insignia into the sea and choose to be free. The Thunder Fleet is born. It is not the chronicle of fugitives: it is the anatomy of a rebellion. Ben challenges the greatest empire on Earth not only with his cannons, but with the edge of his intelligence: treasure buried on a lost cay, a second ship —the Zephyr— under the command of his loyal Thomas Fletcher, and a master plan that no pirate ever dreamed of: buying the Crown itself with its gold and its secrets, until he wrings a royal pardon for his men. And amid the thunder of the cannons, the counterpoint: Clara. The daughter of a governor's councillor, raised between paper laws and stone balconies, she finds in Ben the only real thing in her world —and he, who has captured warships, surrenders to her. The ship's surgeon says it best: that woman managed what forty-six Spanish cannons could not: to take his citadel. Between them is born a pact more sacred than any manifesto signed with ink —"I will return"—, sealed with a mother-of-pearl conch shell that sings of an ocean that belongs to no king. And the final masterstroke is not played out with boardings, but with paper and rank, bursting into the night of an arranged wedding. A destiny written with gunpowder, freedom and love. The story moves through a Caribbean of 1760 where imperial armadas fought over every mile of sea and every port was a gamble. Ben knows that world from the inside: life on board, the roar of the Storm's cannons, life amidst storms. And he decides to turn it around: to use everything he has learned to found a brotherhood where every man votes and every bit of booty is shared. The Thunder Fleet is not born of pillage: it is born of an idea, that freedom can also be organised. Alejandro Benson gives us this first book in the naval adventure saga. As an anecdote: on one occasion a journalist called him a writer, and he corrected him without hesitation: "No, more than a writer, I am a storyteller". And he certainly proves it, keeping us on the edge of our seats throughout his work, which we invite you to discover. Publisher's recommendation: for readers who are looking for real adventure —without artifice, with the sea, gunpowder and men who choose their own destiny. A read for those who enjoy classic adventure told without haste, with the sea as a backdrop and freedom as a banner. Launch: Miami, Florida, United States. John Ben and the Thunder Fleet — Now on sale at Amazon, in Spanish and English.