Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "blockade"

Larcum Mudge by Philip K. Allan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


HM Sloop Peregrine is an unhappy vessel. Her captain brooks not the slightest infraction, and punishment almost always involves the cat. The discontent on the lower deck foments into mutiny and once in control, the mutineers and ship vanish in the Caribbean, with no one wise to the brutal and bloody slaughter because they assume the ship went down during a hurricane.

With repairs to HM Frigate Griffin almost complete, Captain Alexander Clay attends to the task of recruiting for his undermanned ship. A short time after a printer informs him that some mutineers have been captured, a visit with the First Lord of the Admiralty reveals that the mutineers delivered Peregrine to the French. Clay is ordered to sail to the Caribbean, find the ship, and recapture her. If that’s not possible, she must be destroyed. There is no other way to erase the stain on the Royal Navy’s honor. To assist him in this task is a boatswain’s mate who once served aboard the Peregrine before the mutiny.

In Plymouth, a man encounters mates from the Griffin talking outside a tavern where an officer is signing on new recruits. Larcum Mudge likes what he hears and decides to join the navy. Yet his familiarity with life aboard a king’s ship causes them to wonder why someone who has spent so much time on a whaling vessel never claims to have served aboard a warship before. Then, during an encounter with a French privateer, Mudge slays one of the captives after he surrenders. It looks like a righteous kill, especially when a tattoo on the dead man identifies him as a deserter from the Royal Navy.

With rumors of peace abounding, the Griffin sails for the Caribbean. Upon arrival there, Clay has a brief reunion with his brother-in-law, who warns him about the mercurial temperament of the captain who blockades Guadeloupe where Clay hopes to find Peregrine. Once arriving on station, he discovers there is also a French warship in the harbor – one that the blockading captain has no knowledge of. Since the fortifications and natural layout of the harbor make it impossible to extract Peregrine, Clay devises an ingenious, yet risky, strategy to succeed in his mission. That entails a series of orders, one of which upsets the blockading captain. During his absence, Clay discovers the reason for the outburst and, in the process, captures one of the mutineers. In the meantime, Mudge and his messmates are among the men tasked with implementing Clay’s plan. When one of them does so with a tad more zeal than necessary, they become trapped. Only Mudge can lead them to safety. In doing so, he reveals knowledge that he shouldn’t have.

This eighth book in the Alexander Clay series takes place prior to the Peace of Amiens in 1802. It also represents Allen’s first venture into self-publishing. While Clay plays an important part in this story – one that involves a puzzle that could reopen wounds of a past scandal – it is predominantly a tale of the lower decks. Allen’s artful recreation of the past is second only to his skillful creation of Larcum Mudge. The name alone sparks interest, but readers soon come to care about this man and what happens to him. Larcum Mudge is by far the best book in the series and an adventure that fans old and new will enjoy.




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The Admiral's Pursuit by Lyle Garford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Shortly after crowning himself emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte devises a plan. Not trusting his naval advisers to oversee its deployment, he sends orders to several of his admirals, telling each only what they need to know to carry out single stages of his strategy – a plan to which no one else is privy. He, the most powerful man in the world, is determined to finally bring about the demise of his nemesis, the British, and particularly the Royal Navy.

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who commands the British naval forces in the Mediterranean, is beyond frustrated. Two days ago, the French navy broke through the blockade of Toulon and vanished in foul weather. Determined to break them once and for all, he must pursue them, but where? The list of possibilities – Egypt, Portugal, the Caribbean, the English Channel – precludes venturing off in any direction without some clue as to their destination. Yet no one has seen even one of their ships.

Like his English counterpart, Rear Admiral Edouard Burguês le Comte de Missiessy is frustrated. He commands a French squadron of ships, but his orders are vague and the ultimate goal remains unknown. He receives three sealed envelopes containing his emperor’s commands, but he can only open each at a specific time and place. The first tells him to sail from Rochefort, France to Spain where he is to take aboard a large contingent of soldiers. No reason is given. Nor do the contents of the second envelope provide enlightenment. They simply provide him with his next destination and a warning not to open the third envelope until after he arrives there.

Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve is unhappy and troubled. His orders tell him to break through the British blockade, but the storm that permits him to accomplish this feat damages his ships so much that they must return to Toulon for repairs. Escaping the blockade a second time will not be so easy, but his emperor’s orders give him little choice in the matter. Unlike previous orders, these are strangely silent on why. Does this mean Napoleon no longer trusts him? Or is someone setting him up to fail? The answers are not forthcoming, and all he can do is obey.

Best friends and fellow spies, Captain Evan Ross and Commander James Wilton are desperate to capture Hubert Montdenoix, their archrival in the Caribbean, who time and again has been a thorn in their sides. They finally have that chance on St. Lucia, but the firing of a cannon alerts the French spy and he escapes, even though the lookout’s signal could not have been a warning about Evan and James’s carefully laid snare. Evan has the unsettling feeling that some other danger is afoot and it isn’t long before he discovers what it is. He is also certain that Montdenoix is behind the many rumors that keep him from pinpointing exactly where the danger lies. This makes it doubly important that he and James bring an end to this man’s interference as soon as possible.

This last entry in the Evan Ross series takes place between December 1804 and November 1805, and provides an account of the Royal Navy’s chase of the French fleet from Europe to the Caribbean. Garford does a commendable job showing the various commanders’ frustration at being hampered by orders and lack of knowledge, while making this sometimes muddy episode in naval warfare crystal clear. Evan and James meet new comrades in arms, such as Admiral Alexander Cochrane, and renew old acquaintances. Horatio Nelson devised the plan that allowed both Evan and James to remain and excel in the navy in spite of their disabilities. In addition to a tale of the chase that precedes the Battle of Trafalgar, it also recounts a little-known episode in naval history about HMS Diamond Rock, the only rock to be commissioned as a sloop of war in British naval history. The Admiral’s Pursuit is a fitting conclusion to this series, and while Evan and James will be missed, readers will find the ending satisfying, surprising, and emotional.




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