Okay, so, first of all, Wilbur Smith and Clive Cussler are two of my favorite authors (Dirk Pitt and Taita forever). Then there is the thing that this book is inspired by facts. There was no way I was going to pass on it.
The Series is the Slave Shipwreck Saga by Michael Smorenburg, a Historical Thriller.
The Praying Nun ~ Slave Shipwreck Saga Book 1
An uncharted shipwreck, the mysteries she hides, and the brutalized souls who suffered her holds.
In 1985 two divers discovered an ancient uncharted shipwreck off South Africa’s Cape of Storms. Salvaging the wreck only inflames the enigma with the trail of secrets compounding and the wreck refusing to yield her identity. Countless vessels, some crammed with bullion, have joined this ship graveyard over the centuries, but what sort of galleon was this, leaving only cannon, cannon balls and scant few clues behind? Three decades pass before the Smithsonian of Washington solves the riddle.
It’s 1794 on the fevered coast of Mozambique. Chikunda and his wife Mkiwa, stripped naked and shackled, are heaved aboard the São José de Africa. Only a miracle may save them from the horrors below deck where more than 400 fellow slaves are crammed. But nobody can guess what fate has in store.
If you’re a Wilbur Smith or Clive Cussler fan, you will be riveted by this fact-inspired fictionalized tale by Michael Smorenburg, based as it is by personal experience, extensive research and the legacy of artifacts salvaged from the São José de Africa. Pick it up now to go on the adventure of a lifetime.
The Reckoning ~ Slave Shipwreck Saga Book 2
A slave evades re-capture after his slave ship is wrecked at the treacherous Cape of Good Hope, only to face handing himself over when his wife goes missing with the man who rescued them. A tale of hope, fear and most of all, the yearning for freedom.
It’s 1794 and the slave trade is at its ugly peak. When the Portuguese slave ship Sao Jose Paquete de Africa shipwrecks at the Cape of Good Hope, only two hundred of the four hundred slaves aboard survive.
Chikunda and his pregnant wife evade re-capture only to face the impassable cliffs of Table Mountain. With the wild South Atlantic at their backs, Cape Town’s gallows and whipping post to the north, the British garrison blocking escape to the south, and dangers of an untamed African coast to the east of a vast mountain range, escape seems impossible.
When Chikunda’s wife goes missing, he has a monumental choice to make. Pick up The Reckoning now and lose yourself in a world you never could have imagined, a world where freedom slips ever more out of a man’s grasp.

Chatting with the Author
Michael Smorenburg (b. 1964) grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. An entrepreneur with a passion for marketing, in 1995 Michael moved to California where he founded a business consultancy and online media and marketing engine in the burgeoning internet. In 2003 he returned to South Africa where he launched a security company. In 2015 he divested of the business to write full time. Michael’s greatest love is the ocean, keeping up with the latest breakthroughs in science, understanding the cosmos and sharing all he learns.
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in 1964 at the tip of Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.
Quite why I have no idea, but I was drawn to be an entrepreneur straight out of college. I’ve consequently never had a salary in my life.
In 1995 Michael I moved to Southern California where I founded a business consultancy and online media and marketing engine in the burgeoning internet space.
But once Africa has a hold of you, it is impossible to resist, and back to South Africa I returned in 2003 where I launched a security company.
In 2015 I semi-retired and divested of the business to write full time.
Michael’s greatest love is the ocean, reading history, keeping up with the latest breakthroughs in science, understanding the cosmos and sharing all I can.
I consequently “dress facts up as fiction”–I find interesting historical, anthropological or other scientific facts I think would fascinate people, and I weave them into stories that give them context.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think. I don’t plan. I don’t question.
When I’m gripped by a story, I just sit down and let it write itself.
The moment I ask a question whether a character “should do XYZ”… the magic disappears.
I’m just the scribe here. My job is to simply record the story that wants to be told – and the story teller doesn’t like to be interrupted.I love it. The best books I’ve ever read are the ones I’m astonished to see appearing on the screen before me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Frankly I get bored with most stories unless I’m getting something out of them.
I’m a facts guy. I read a lot of non-fiction to understand how things and people and cultures and history works.
To me, reality is more exciting than any fantasy I’ve ever encountered.So, fairly limited ficton:
James Clavell, Leon Uris, James Michener, Wilbur Smith
Just about ever science, history and anthropology popular textbook out there.
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Giveaway
- $25 Amazon
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