The Tidewater Leviathan, (Paperback)

<p><i><b>The ghosts were easy. Now Jefferson faces something that kills.</b></i></p><p>October 1762, Chesapeake Bay. Nineteen-year-old Thomas Jefferson is returning from routine legal business when he witnesses the impossible: the merchant ship *Providence* lurches violently in calm water, lists to port, and sinks in minutes. No storm. No rocks. No warning. Just a dying ship and sailors screaming in the water as Jefferson and his mentor George Wythe race to pull survivors from the cold bay.</p><p>The survivors tell a story that should be impossible. A dark shape beneath the waves. Mechanical sounds-grinding gears, hissing steam. And then impact from below, tearing through oak planking like paper.</p><p>It's the fourth ship lost in three weeks.</p><p>Hampton's maritime community is in panic. Insurance companies refuse coverage. Ships sit idle at the docks. Virginia's tobacco economy-the lifeblood of the colony-teeters on the brink of collapse. Merchants face bankruptcy. Sailors refuse to crew vessels. And the whispers grow louder: *leviathan, sea serpent, the wrath of God*.</p><p>But Jefferson notices what others dismiss: the attacks are too precise, too mechanical. Ships disappear only in deep water. Only vessels carrying valuable cargo. Only at dawn or dusk when visibility is poor. This isn't a monster from sailors' myths.</p><p>This is something engineered.</p><p>When Jefferson's investigative approach leads him face-to-face with the "creature", he realizes Virginia faces an enemy more dangerous than any ghost.</p><p>Governor Robert Dinwiddie gives Jefferson seven days to locate and neutralize the threat. Seven days to find a weapon that can vanish beneath the waves.</p><p>Jefferson isn't a soldier. He's a law student barely out of his teens. But he's learning that investigation sometimes requires more than observation and logic-it demands action, leadership, and the courage to command men in mortal danger.</p><p>With his mentor George Wythe documenting evidence for the legal case that must follow, Jefferson assembles an unlikely crew: a grieving first mate seeking revenge, a Royal Navy deserter with nothing to lose, a blacksmith-turned-sailor, and a wealthy friend whose ship becomes their hunting vessel. Together they sail into the Chesapeake's deep waters to hunt something that has every advantage-stealth, surprise, and a ruthless naval officer willing to kill anyone who threatens his mission.</p><p><i>The Tidewater Leviathan</i> is historical adventure at full throttle-a steampunk naval mystery that trades candlelit libraries for open water combat, clockwork mechanisms, and intellectual puzzles for life-and-death decisions. Perfect for readers who love the maritime adventure of Patrick O'Brian, the mechanical ingenuity of steampunk fiction, and the historical richness of period mysteries.</p><p>Thomas Jefferson solved his first case with reason and careful observation. His second case teaches him a harder lesson: that protecting what you love sometimes requires fighting for it with everything you have.</p><p></p>

• The Tidewater Leviathan, (Paperback)
• Author: Independently Published
• ISBN: 9798245630892
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-01-26
• Page Count: 222