Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "spy"

The Most Bold and Daring Act of the Age: A Henry Doyle Novel by E. Thomas Behr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Napoleon escapes from exile and returns to Paris, where he proclaims himself emperor. If a shipment of gold, destined for his Shiite collaborators, succeeds in reaching its destination, the leaders of Russia and Prussia will be assassinated and the disruption of supplies to their armies will pave the way for his Grand Armée to defeat the British.

Ten years have passed since Henry Doyle left America and joined the Tuaregs, a nomadic desert people of North Africa. He’s now fifty-one years old, married to Dihya, the leader of his adopted tribe, and together they have a son. A Mohawk and former British spy, he knows England cannot succeed without her allies. The best way to thwart Napoleon is to snatch the gold as it passes through the desert, but to do that he must once again become El Habibka the spy. After successfully infiltrating an enemy tribe, he takes the information to his friend, the Dey of Algiers. But the Dey has his own enemies, and instead of achieving the desired outcome to their plans, the Dey dies and Henry is imprisoned in a dungeon where excruciating tortures are inflicted.

Once a feared manipulator of people and money during the Reign of Terror and later as one of Napoleon’s trusted secret agents, Chameau now lives in a crime-ridden section of Paris. He enjoys his reclusive retirement until he learns that his most despised nemesis is once again afoot. Finally having a chance to kill Henry Doyle entices Chameau to once again assist the emperor in his new bid for power. He must go to Algiers, but first he requires bait to tempt Doyle into a trap.

Patrick Kirkpatrick, a former captain in the American Navy and now a successful privateer, operates out of Nantes, France. He intervenes one night in a vicious assault on an American woman and her brother. Only later does he discover the truth about her and the attack and, realizing the danger Henry is in, he and his men head for the Mediterranean to warn his half-brother. On the way he encounters his old friend, Steven Decatur, now commodore of a squadron of vessels bound for Algiers to force an end to the raids on American ships and the payment of tribute in return for peace. Steven is only too happy to assist, but for Patrick to succeed in rescuing Henry they must find a way to get past the Algerine fortress and into the harbor without their true identity being discovered.

Intrigue, greed, betrayal, and love are intricately interwoven into this sweeping historical novel. Faith and philosophy also play important roles in Henry’s singular life, and Behr ably shows how different beliefs can respectfully intersect and peacefully co-exist. This long-awaited sequel to Blood Brothers takes readers from Algiers and France to the woodlands of the Iroquois Confederacy and the rebuilding of Washington, DC. There are also several sea battles, including an astounding confrontation with a legendary Barbary corsair. While the majority of the action occurs in 1815, brief interludes journey back to 1779 when Henry was a young Mohawk warrior.

This story may not appeal to all readers. At times the language is explicit and leaves little to the imagination. Peter’s union with Lavinia aboard the privateer seems somewhat contrived. The exploration of Henry’s morality and evolving beliefs are at times lengthy, but they are essential elements to the story and his character.

The intricacy of the web Behr spins, the profound depth of his characters, and his ability to meld people from history with imaginary ones are the hallmark of this book and the series. For those who would like to learn more about Henry’s earlier life, he includes a sample chapter from Blood Brothers. For fans who eagerly await the next title in the series, he entices with a preview of The Lion’s Son. Regardless of whether a reader likes or dislikes The Most Bold and Daring Act of the Age, this thought-provoking novel leaves an indelible mark that lasts long after the story concludes.




View all my reviews

The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Mixed emotions assault Emeline Barratt as her father’s merchant brig nears Baltimore, Maryland in August 1814. She’s been in England for two years, sent there after her father tired of her passion to paint and refusal to find a prospective husband. He thought her great aunt would teach her to be a proper lady willing to settle down; if only she could, then perhaps God would cease punishing her for her rebellious ways. But that desire is not to be. She still has her dreams. Perhaps that is why the Royal Navy blockading the Chesapeake Bay intervenes. Instead of setting foot on the docks at home, Emeline steps aboard a navy frigate as a prisoner of war. Only her medicinal knowledge prevents her from being locked away in the brig with her father’s privateers.

First Lieutenant Owen Masters curses the day Emeline and the Americans are captured. For eight years he has successfully navigated dangerous waters as a spy aboard Royal Navy ships, seeking information to aid America’s fight for continued freedom. With an invasion imminent that knowledge is within his grasp, but the presence of the prisoners, especially Emeline, endangers his mission and his life. Already Lieutenant Dinsmore watches his every move. The marine officer’s attraction to Emeline seems a good way to thwart his nemesis until Emeline declares that her loyalties lie with them rather than the country of her birth.

Only after the burning of Washington are both Owen and Emeline given the opportunity they each desire. Her supposed loyalty to England makes her an ideal candidate to glean much-needed information for an assault on Baltimore, but in reality she can escape the clutches of the English, warn authorities, and hopefully cease to anger God. He can finally return home and turn in a traitor. But Dinsmore is determined to prove that Owen is a spy and save Emeline for himself.

The Liberty Bride is the sixth book in the Daughters of the Mayflower series and is set during the final stages of the War of 1812. This fast-paced inspirational romance vividly portrays the many perils both Emeline and Owen face at sea and on land. Dinsmore is the epitome of a villain readers truly dislike, in spite of his good looks and charm. From the depths of despair to the joys of true love and finding God, this is grand adventure spiced with pinches of humor, sorrow, and intrigue.




View all my reviews

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.




View all my reviews

Commissar: A Novel of Civil War Russia by D.V. Chernov

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Delivery of a dispatch leads to the Romanovs’ executions. The messenger is Anna Sokolova, a young woman whose brother died in a demonstration at the Winter Palace and who believes that choices made are always black or white. Knowing she plays a role, however minor, in the murders causes her to transfer into the counterterrorism branch of the Cheka, the Bolshevik security agency. In 1918, she hunts for an elusive spy, who goes by many names and may be in league with the British. With talk of guns and an underground army, as well as an influx of Allied troops and two assassination attempts, stopping the spy becomes paramount. Anna teams up with an American Army captain tied to the American Red Cross, but the pursuit requires an alliance with an anarchist who has vowed to kill all White Russians, Allies, and Bolsheviks. It also requires Anna to choose between blindly following orders or staying true to her principles.

Chernov adroitly depicts the complicated factions threatening Russia. He shows the brutality of war and how the policy of Red Terror came to be. Commissar centers on the hunt for Sidney Reilly, and is the first book in the Anna Sokolova series. It also incorporates a significant laying of groundwork for future titles. There are some editing issues that still need resolving and there are times when the many characters, both historical and fictional, become muddled, but the various points of view emphasize the period’s confusion and convolution. The story isn’t as engrossing as other novels set during this time, but readers are invested in the characters and what happens to them by the story’s close. Loose threads are tied up, and the end twist will intrigue readers to see how Anna deals with a personal dilemma.

(This review originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of Historical Novels Review: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/re...)



View all my reviews

The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy by Sean Kingsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


He leads a mutiny in the last decade of the 17th century. He captures a ship belonging to the Indian emperor. The garnered treasure makes him very rich. As a result of this single act, he becomes the world’s first most-wanted criminal. Then he simply disappears. His name is Henry Avery, and these are the basic facts that appear in pirate histories. None satisfactorily answer the questions of who he was and what became of him.

Fast forward to 1978. Cowan and his wife are searching for a shipwreck off Orkney, and Zélide is doing a deep dive into the Scottish archives for information. One misfiled document catches her attention. It is a letter, partially encoded and written by “Avery the Pirate,” four years after he disappeared. She spends a decade tracking down its authenticity before other shipwrecks necessitate the Cowans’ complete attention. Then, in 2020, Kingsley mentions “pirates” during a visit with Rex Cowan. This book reveals what they discovered about Henry Avery and his connection to Daniel Defoe, a master spy and disseminator of misinformation, and Dr. Thomas Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury.

A Pirate King reads like a novel, even though it’s both a biography and a history. While the details on how the research was done are briefly covered, the primary foci are on the players, the influences that led them along the paths they took, and the wider picture of world events that had direct and indirect bearing on them. It is essentially a mystery story that convincingly reveals what happened to this most-wanted pirate, why he was never caught and punished, and how he fell in with a Dissenter who often found himself penniless and evading creditors.

In some regards, this depiction of Avery deviates with previously published books on the pirate. Instead, it portrays him as a more complex person and provides rationales for why he went on the account and why he joined forces with Defoe and Tenison. Using a 1709 publication (written by an author whose identity can’t be verified) to show Avery’s mindset during the pillaging of the Ganj-i-Sawai is somewhat questionable. It does, however, add to the smoke screen that the authors suggest was created to divert people’s attention away from the real Avery and his whereabouts.

The book includes a timeline, a center section of illustrations, a list for further reading, an index, and notes. The illustrations include photographs of the Avery letter, while one note includes an interesting hypothesis as to the identity of Captain Charles Johnson, the author of A General History of Pyrates (1724).

I have read several books on Henry Avery over the years, but The Pirate King is by far the most absorbing and compelling. It fills in the blanks that other volumes have, answering not just the who but also the why and how. Another key component is that the lives and deeds of Avery and Defoe are not related in vacuums. Instead, they unfold within the events and politics of the day to provide readers with a broader, more understandable perspective. In essence they have done what Richard Lawrence wrote to code breaker John Wallis in 1657: “If you can finde out a key whereby to picke this locke, you are able to reade any thinge.”


(This review first appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Kingsley.html)



View all my reviews

The Sugar Storm by Lyle Garford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Oranjestad on the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean has gone from a small, unimportant town to a burgeoning seaport where ships of all nations come to trade. In late 1775, rumors of a smuggling operation reach the ears of spymaster Sir James Standish. The colonists are not happy with British dominance, and if the French are supplying weapons and ammunition to the Americans, it means serious trouble is in the offing. Since his operative, Owen Spence, makes frequent voyages to gather much-needed food supplies for the English Caribbean islands, he is best situated to investigate.

When Owen and his crew arrive in the neutral Dutch port, what they find is beyond imagination. The place teems with ships and a wide variety of cargo, all of which is available . . . for a price. This is good for Barbados, where food is always at critical levels since the island is unable to produce sufficient supplies to feed everyone because so much of the arable land is reserved for growing sugarcane. There seems to be a preponderance of American and French ships and their seamen, not to mention the presence of the all-too-familiar Le Mystere, which belongs to the French spymaster in the Caribbean. There is also an underlying current of antagonism flowing through the streets, which causes more than a few problems between crews and with authorities.

Realizing there is far more to learn and that there is a need to monitor the situation more frequently, Owen sets up a spy network at Oranjestad. When sailing between Barbados and the Dutch island, he also puts in at Dominica where farmers on the less-inhabited side of the island also have food to sell. It doesn’t take long to garner information that eventually leads him to believe that the French have designs on retaking the ideally-situated island from the British, especially once the American colonies declare independence and formally ally with the French.

The Sugar Storm is the second in the Owen Spence trilogy and takes place between 1775 and 1778. While most events occur on land, a few involve the sea. Unfortunately, one raid takes place off-stage, but the recounting makes for interesting reading. When there is action, it can be tense and dangerous. Once or twice, readers are left hanging, but eventually Garford provides the necessary follow through; one reason for this is to convey a sense of just how much time passes between the inciting incident and the resolution because immediacy of communication just didn’t exist back then. One slightly annoying aspect of the story is the frequent references to hurricane season but no actual hurricanes.

Aside from shining a light on the Caribbean during the American Revolution from a British perspective, Garford also focuses on the difficulties that arose once the war cut off American trade with the islands, which was essential to the English colonies’ survival. He populates the story with a wide variety of characters which are well-drawn and come from different backgrounds. Owen comes face-to-face with the man responsible for his dismissal from the Royal Navy, which occurred in the first book, but one of the most interesting new characters adds a few ripples to the re-encounter with his nemesis. Even John Adams and Benjamin Franklin make cameo appearances. This historical novel may not be a nail-biting, action-packed thriller, but it is a unique tale of an often-overlooked aspect of the War of Independence.


(This review first appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Garford.ht...)



View all my reviews