Cindy Vallar's Blog, page 30

Review of The War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession 1701 - 1714 by James Falkner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


One of the most compelling questions on every monarch’s mind in the last decade of the seventeenth century was: Who will succeed King Carlos II of Spain? His empire stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas and included lands in the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg today), North Africa, and the Philippines. To rule these required a firm hand, yet he had neither offspring nor siblings to ascend the throne.

Although lesser claimants existed, two men from two different countries could make strong cases as to why they should be the next king of Spain. One was Philippe, Duc d’Anjou and grandson of King Louis XIV of France. The other was Archduke Charles of Austria. At the time, no one wanted to go to war and eventually, many ruling monarchs agreed that Philippe would become the next king of Spain. But succession questions where no direct heirs exist were never an easy thing to resolve, especially when the contenders and neighboring countries had their own goals and desires.

Then Louis, who rarely made unwise choices, sent soldiers into the Spanish Netherlands in February 1701. The move was supposedly to protect his grandson, who was now Philip V of Spain, but the Dutch were highly incensed over this move. In early September, England, Holland, and Austria joined together to form the Grand Alliance; soon after Denmark and the German states agreed to assist them. Two additional moves on Louis’s part tipped the scale on the side of war. He refused to allow English manufactured goods to be imported to France, and he recognized the Catholic son of the deposed James II as the rightful ruler of England and Scotland. The Grand Alliance declared war in May 1702.

What became known as the War of the Spanish Succession was a conflict that encompassed much of Europe, the West Indies, and even Canada. While most of the war occurred on land, the navies engaged in sea battles and privateering played a significant role. Although peace negotiations began early, nothing was resolved until 1713, 1714, and 1715, years in which the various parties eventually signed treaties. During more than ten years of fighting, numerous elements impacted its outcome: issues of who would command the armies, harmony amongst allies and commanders, conditions of the troops, court rivalries, and distractions at home (such as insurrection in southern France and the bitterly cold winter of 1709). In the end, all parties got what they initially wished and the Spanish people, who never had a voice in the matter, gained a king worthy of their respect and trust.

James Falkner, who specializes in this time period and this conflict, covers all this and more in a volume that presents an unbiased overview of the diplomacy, politics, and military initiatives that took place during the War of the Spanish Succession. He includes numerous maps, illustrations, and a chronological time line to assist readers. There are three appendices. The first two provide the main terms of the 1702 Treaty of Grand Alliance and the Treaties of Utrecht, Baden and Rastadt, and Madrid (1713-1715). The third appendix provides brief biographies of Key Military Figures, their careers, and what became of them. Among those included are James FitzJames, Duke of Berwick; Prince Eugene de Savoy-Carignan; Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt; John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough; Camille d’Houston, Duc de Tallard, Marshal of France; Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme; Claude-Louise-Hector de Villars, Marshal of France; and François de Neufville, Duc de Villeroi, Marshal of France. The book concludes with end notes, a bibliography, and an index.

Falkner provides a good grounding for readers about how the question of succession becomes an issue, who the principal claimants are, and why their claims are the strongest. Those seeking detailed analysis of the various battles and sieges, however, need to look elsewhere, for The War of the Spanish Succession merely summarizes these actions. Also missing are events that take place outside of Europe and the Mediterranean. Privateers garner only a scant mention, yet the plethora of these men will have a major impact on history once the war ends. Although the text is highly readable, it doesn’t always hold the reader’s interest and lay readers may become easily confused as to who’s who and for which side they fight. Readers with a particular interest in this war and military history during the eighteenth century, however, will delight in this one-volume overview.




View all my reviews

Review of Fire Aloft

Fire Aloft: Revenge of the Aero-Pyrates by Rev DiCerto

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In the midst of a battle between Union and Confederate airships in 1869, Billy Leary knows he’s about to die. After leaving Ireland, neither he nor his brother Jimmy thought to become entangled in this bloody war. But the Union hadn’t offered them a choice. No sooner had they stepped ashore than they were conscripted into the air corps, and now, the Rebel commander, Garrett Prescott, has fired on the Union airships after they surrender. In spite of being an engineer there is nothing Billy can do to prevent his vessel’s explosion. At least Jimmy yet lives.

But Billy’s demise doesn’t occur. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself in a Rebel field hospital where Prescott offers him a choice – serve in the Confederate Aerial Navy or be confined in Andersonville. Since the latter is more a death trap than prison camp, Billy opts for the former. To prevent the possibility of being called a traitor for switching sides, he changes his name to Billy Reilly. When the War of Confederate Independence finally ends, Billy eventually marries, has a family, and decides to open a store in the Dakota Territory. That decision leads to a tragedy that alters his life, and Billy finds himself once again crossing paths with the infamous Prescott.

In 1880, Captain Gallagher, aka Jimmy Leary, has finally found something he’s good at. He loves being a buccaneer of the air, and he’s worked hard to create a haven where the aero-pirates can gather in relative safety in a fledgling mining town in the Arizona Territory. He and his crew, aboard the Anna Sable, swoop down and attack trains, regardless of whether they belong to the Union or the Confederacy. His favorite targets are those carrying cargo and money belonging to Thom McGuire, a rich and powerful man who’s determined to rid the airways of the aero-pirates.

Justine Arthurs dreams of commanding an airship, but she’s too darned good at being an agent. During the war, she was a Pinkerton agent working behind enemy lines. Now’s she works for McGuire, and her current assignment is to offer Garrett Prescott a lucrative job. He agrees on two conditions: declare the Arizona Territory a company protectorate and name him as its governor. With assistance from the Union Aero Corps, Prescott vows to defeat the aero-pirates in a year or less.

Union airships converge on the aero-pirates safe haven and an overeager officer offers them a pardon. If they renounce their old ways and swear allegiance to the Union, the buccaneers will be granted amnesty for past crimes. Gallagher counsels feigning acceptance, but Bart Scharf refuses to sign and vows to make war on those who do.

Not believing the aero-pirates have truly surrendered, Prescott sends Justine to find out all she can about Gallagher any way she can. Her task proves easier than she expects, but as she gets to know him and he lets her command the Anna Sable, she finds that she’s not immune to his charms. Best to put an end to this charade as soon as possible. To that end, she arranges an ambush, but killing the buccaneers isn’t as easy as she expects. Nor is it a simple thing to keep Gallagher far from her thoughts.

In spite of losing his heart to the woman he knows as Faye, Gallagher has enough sense to be wary of her. Her betrayal cuts him to the quick, and he’s determined to make her pay. But getting revenge must wait until after he and his fellow aero-pirates stage the biggest haul of their lives.

Fire Aloft is a rousing steampunk adventure filled with intrigue, romance, and treachery. While much of the story is set in 1880, numerous flash backs covering a time span of twelve years are interspersed throughout the story until the death-defying, heart-pumping, spectacular show-down. Doc Holiday is among the host of unique characters populating the story, and there is a restaging of the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone. This may be about air pirates, but historical piratical elements are seamlessly woven into the story. For example, the offer of amnesty, Prescott’s no-nonsense suppression, and Scharf’s belligerent refusal to renounce his criminal ways are reminiscent of Governor Woodes Rogers’ ousting of the pirates from the Bahamas and Charles Vane’s audacious escape.




View all my reviews

Review of The California Run

The California Run by Mark A. Rimmer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Harry Jenkins has two particular skills – wooing women and acquiring their valuables. Of course, his latest victim came with a father who’s now intent on reclaiming his daughter’s honor. That necessitates a hasty escape from Ireland, which is how he comes to be in New York. One might think Harry has learned his lesson. Alas, such is not the case. He needs to increase the distance between his vengeful pursuer and that requires money, so a new target is needed. Much to his chagrin, Lady Margaret Thompson seems immune to his charm. Then miracle of miracles, she suddenly pursues him and helps him acquire a ticket to San Francisco.

The past eight years were pure torture for Sarah Doyle, lady’s maid to Lady Margaret Thompson. On the eve of their voyage to New York, her employer postponed their trip and on a whim, Sarah appropriates her identity and luggage and sails to America. Nor has she taken this chance only to be duped by Harry Jenkins, so she separates him from his ticket and baggage and, for good measure, convinces two strangers to waylay Harry so she can board the California-bound clipper as Mrs. Harry Jenkins.

If told to kill someone, Gideon has no problem doing so. He’s not a hired killer, although he does enjoy using his knife. No, he owes Thaddeus Oglesby and will do almost anything for him. After all, his employer is one of the most powerful men in the city. Not even the law can touch him. Oglesby also owns Sapphire, the Yankee clipper upon which Gideon normally serves as second mate. The ship is soon to depart for San Francisco, but this time without Gideon. He’s to hire on as one of the crew of the Achilles to make certain she does not reach San Francisco first. Even if that means sending the newly-built clipper and those aboard to the bottom of the sea, for his employer has no intention of losing the race to California, the $50,000 wager, or the rich profits the first ship will garner once her cargo is sold in the gateway to the gold rush.

Being the second mate of Achilles is both an honor and a worry for Nate Cooper, who’s never served as a watch officer before. His first introduction to the chief mate proves less than welcoming, since Robert Biggs seems to rely heavily on a belaying pin and the lash to make the crew carry out their work. Nate disagrees with such tactics, but he’s not in a position to object. He knows only too well that he will have to prove himself every day of the 200-day voyage that he is the best seaman for the job, not only to himself, but to the captain, the chief mate, and the crew. Nor will this be an easy task, for the men of the forecastle are a mix of crimped landlubbers – one of whom is Harry, who hasn’t a clue about sailing, and nine Swedes, who barely speak English – and packet-rats, unruly bullies who’ve crewed aboard the transatlantic Liverpool packet ships.

Someone who shares his misgivings is Emma Jacobs, the captain’s niece. She has accompanied him on his voyages for three years, although this is the first stint on a clipper. During that time, she’s become an adept navigator and when rumblings of replacing Nate with another crewman as second mate begin, she intervenes and begins teaching him the art of navigation to better secure his position.

Set in 1850 during the California Gold Rush, The California Run is an arresting depiction of shipboard life during a 15,000-mile journey around Cape Horn. The unique and entertaining characters provide a volatile mix to which are added a thief, a saboteur, and a murderer. Interspersed throughout the story, rather than interwoven into it, are explanations about the ships and her crews. While this lessens the tension somewhat, it provides newcomers to nautical fiction with a good grounding in what it was like to be a merchant seaman when the fastest ships ever built sailed the seas.




View all my reviews

Review of A Man of No Country

A Man of No Country by Philip K. Allan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After marrying the love of his life, Captain Alexander Clay finds his idyllic shore leave cut short. His frigate Titan has been repaired, but instead of rejoining the Channel Fleet, he and his men sail for the Mediterranean to assist Admiral Lord St. Vincent. Rather than the boring voyage expected, they investigate suspicious actions aboard a merchant brig and thus discover that pirates control the vessel and the crew is locked below. After rescuing the captives, they later spot a Russian sloop that runs aground rather than fight. When Clay’s men reach the shore, one of the evaders turns out to be John Grainger, who claims to have been forced to navigate for the Russian privateers. Although he dresses like a Turk, was raised in Algeria, and has their coloring, he speaks English and has piercing blue eyes. He just claims not to know where he was born. Once aboard the Titan, he joins the Royal Navy.

When they arrive on station, Clay meets with the admiral. He and his vessels maintain a blockade on the Spanish navy, which means no naval ship has ventured far into the Mediterranean. Therefore, Titan is to become the eyes of the fleet. Clay will find out what’s happening, what the French are planning, and visit Ambassador Hamilton in Naples.

While the ship resupplies and their captain meets with the admiral, Sam Evans, Adam Trevan, Joshua Rosso, and Sean O’Malley, along with John Grainger, visit a tavern. Able Sedgwick arrives late, having stopped to purchase a blank journal in which to record his life’s story as an African slave to help the abolitionist cause. John mistakes the journal for his own and when he accosts Able, the serving girl notices John’s tattoo and becomes terrified. When Able later questions her, she divulges the true meaning of the mark.

Once the Titan returns to sea, she becomes enshrouded by a dense fog and those aboard find themselves surrounded by the Spanish fleet. Since they remain invisible to the enemy, Clay tricks two of the vessels into firing upon each other. It’s a neat trick, but later he regrets how he endangered his mission. He soon puts his reckless misstep behind him, when he sends his men ashore to seize a merchant ship that eluded them and to launch a surprise attack on an enemy fortification. In doing so, they discover the captured prize carries military tents and cooking equipment bound for Marseille.

Upon their return to the ship, Sam discovers that he’s been robbed. More thefts soon follow, and Able overhears one of the new men threatening someone. No matter how much searching the master of arms does, he finds no trace of the missing money or the thief. To keep the growing discontent from endangering the ship, Clay enlists Able’s help in discovering the truth.

As the Titan ventures past numerous harbors, Clay has lookouts count the ships in the harbor. When combined with the tents and cooking equipment, it soon becomes evident that General Napoleon Bonaparte is amassing an enormous fleet. Clay immediately returns to report to the admiral to find that Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson has arrived with reinforcements. Clay joins his squadron and they set out to determine where the French plan to go. When Titan revisits the harbors, Clay discovers the French fleet has disappeared. It soon becomes a battle against time to find out where Bonaparte intends to launch his next invasion.

A Man of No Country is the fourth offering in the Alexander Clay series. The eye-opening prologue is a powerful and horrifying depiction of a Barbary pirate attack, where the merchant captain warns his young son that should he be captured, he must join the pirates in order to survive, but his request comes at an excruciatingly high price. Discovering the identity of the thief proves to be a challenging mystery for the reader. We also learn more about Able’s traumatic and chilling journey from Africa to the Caribbean. A bit of humor is inserted into scenes where Clay meets Lady Emma Hamilton, and Allan does a fabulous job in making the reader experience Clay’s awkwardness and discomfort at becoming prey to her feminine wiles. There is also a daring sea rescue in the midst of a terrible gale. All the adventures lead up to the stunning and breathless sea battle between the Royal and French Navies that history knows as the Battle of the Nile.




View all my reviews

Review of Assassination of Al Qahira

Assassination in Al-Qahirah by James Boschert

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Forced from his home in France and on his way to Palestine, Talon de Giles senses something is amiss after fourteen days at sea. The tempest overhead pounds the vessel and excess water on board does not bode well. He wakes his fellow Templars, but they can do little. The vessel strikes razor-sharp rocks and the four men are tossed into the turbulent froth. Only Talon, Max, and Montague wash ashore with their lives and the clothes on their backs. With no idea where they are or which direction to go, they make do as best they can until opportunity presents itself.

Months later a caravan on its way to Al Iskandrîyah stops for the night near where the Templars camp. Talon’s training as a kidnapped child of the Assassini serves him well and he steals camels, weapons, food, and silver without anyone being the wiser. He also discovers that Alexandria is not far, so the three unkempt, bearded, scarecrow-like men head to the Egyptian city to arrange passage to the Holy Land. But the Templars are betrayed, Montague is slain, and Talon and Max are imprisoned on accusations of being Christian spies. Rather than reveal his true identity, Talon adopts the name of Suleiman and spins a tale that keeps them alive. For now. Emir Abbas Abdur Rahman ibn Athir Faysal, the man in charge of the prison, distrusts Suleiman and his story, so until he discovers the truth, Talon and Max will remain prisoners.

To remain in their cell means certain death, so the two friends watch, wait, and plan until the day arrives when they can escape. Being strangers in a strange city, they dare not stay in Al Iskandrîyah. Using his particular skills of stealth, Talon steals horses and they flee into the countryside. One day, they are high ground when they see a grove of trees where people mill about. When a caravan approaches the oasis, the grove is suddenly devoid of humans. Fearing an ambush, Talon and Max rush in to aid those being attacked. Their intervention saves the lives of Lady Khalidah and her two children, but Max is badly injured. They go with the noble family to their estate, where Lady Khalidah insists they stay until her husband returns to thank them. While Max recovers, Suleiman tutors the children. He’s wary of staying, but he won’t leave Max.

This third Book of Talon is a spine-tingling, edge-of-your seat thriller that centers around a man who covets another man’s wife and property and will do whatever he must to rid himself of his enemy. Interwoven into this tale are exotic locales, palace intrigue, assassination, betrayal, and a fascinating look into the underground world of Al Qahira (Cairo). Throughout the story there are scenes where the tension runs high and you forget to breathe. They culminate in a heart-thumping final battle on the Nile. As always Boschert drops readers into the midst of the action, spinning an intricate tale that snatches your imagination and doesn’t let go until the book ends. Even then, he leaves us with a tantalizing twist of what is to come in Talon’s next adventure, which may bring Talon closer to reuniting with his love Rav’an and friend Rexa . . . if they are still alive.




View all my reviews

Review of The Golden Age of Piracy edited by David Head

The Golden Age of Piracy: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Popularity of Pirates by David Head

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The scholarly essays in this collection examine both historical pirates and those in popular culture. Although the focus is on piracy in the Caribbean, the time perspective is broader, extending from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Some analyze how what we have learned from the past can be applied to the present to suppress these marauders today. Others demonstrate how society has viewed pirates at different times and on different levels. Together the essays show how we’ve expanded our understanding of pirates and piracy, as well as future avenues of study to continue the learning process.

This volume is comprised of four sections. It opens with “Pirates and Empire,” which investigates the growth of piracy during the 1500s and 1600s when European nations vied for control of the Caribbean. The second section, “Suppression of Pirates,” discusses piracy’s decline in the region. “Modeling Piracy” pertains to lessons learned and the application of those lessons today. The final section, “Images of Pirates in Their Own Time and Beyond,” scrutinizes how those ashore viewed pirates.

Three essays comprise Section I: Pirates and Empire. In “Why Atlantic Piracy” Carla Gardina Pestana looks at the geographical, economic, and political influences that resulted in the spread of piracy from Europe to the New World. She discusses the importance of understanding what piracy was and was not, and then applying that knowledge to archival records when analyzing accusations against pirates. She also stresses that the inherent violence accompanying piracy ebbed and flowed rather than remaining a constant.

John A. Coakley uses the term private seafarer, instead of privateer or pirate, to discuss the men who played key roles in both the politics of and marauding raids from Jamaica between 1655 and 1692 in “Jamaica’s Private Seafarers: Politics and Violence in a Seventeenth-Century English Colony.” He also examines how these relationships changed over time and the attempts to regulate these expeditions.

Many histories mention pirates and their connections to logwood, but in “‘Sailors from the Woods’: Logwood Cutting and the Spectrum of Piracy” Kevin P. McDonald offers readers a different perspective. Rather than being pirates who harvested the wood that provided much-desired dyes in Europe, they were seamen who sometimes strayed into smuggling or ventured into the more serious crime of piracy.

Section 2: Suppression of Pirates also contains three essays. Douglas R. Burgess leads off with “Trial and Error: Piracy Trials in England and Its Colonies, 1696-1723.” He discusses the evolution of England’s definition of piracy, as well as how American colonists viewed pirates. Initially, these did not coincide, but as time passed piracy changed and so did the latter’s thinking. He shows this by looking at pirate trials over time until the prosecution and punishment of pirates occurred on both sides of the Atlantic.

David Wilson analyzes the effectiveness of this suppression in “Protecting Trade by Suppressing Pirates: British Colonial and Metropolitan Responses to Atlantic Piracy, 1716-1726.” Rather than being a united and coordinated endeavor, he demonstrates that the effectiveness of such efforts was influenced by merchants, agents of colonial governments, and captains in the Royal Navy.

Guy Chet, on the other hand, contradicts the common belief that British efforts to suppress piracy were successful in “The Persistence of Piracy in the British Atlantic.” He provides evidence to show that sea marauding remained a threat long past the end of the “golden age” into the mid nineteenth century.

In the third section of this collection, Modeling Piracy, Virginia W. Lunsford and Peter T. Leeson scrutinize human and piratical behavior of the past in hopes that these lessons can be applied to the problem today. Lunsford’s “A Model of Piracy: The Buccaneers of the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean” presents a case study that identifies six significant characteristics of piracy that resulted in the dissolution of the buccaneers. Leeson presents a new rationale for looking at pirates in “The Economic Way of Thinking about Pirates.” By examining these rogues through the eyes of an economist, he provides fresh insight into why pirates governed themselves as they did, why they used the black flag, and why they tortured their victims.

Images of Pirates in Their Own Time and Beyond, the final section of this book, looks at pirates through the eyes of those ashore who heard and read of their tales. Margarette Lincoln leads off with “Henry Every and the Creation of the Pirate Myth in Early Modern Britain.” Every’s piratical deeds in the 1690s provided much fodder for literary pens, which allowed audiences of all classes with opportunities to digest issues relevant to them and gave rise to the pirate as a popular hero. By examining these publications, Lincoln shows what they tell us about those who lived when these pirates roamed. She also demonstrates how portrayals of Every changed over time.

In “‘Blood and Lust’: Masculinity and Sexuality in Illustrated Print Portrayals of Early Pirates of the Caribbean,” Carolyn Eastman examines what the descriptions and illustrations in Alexandre Exquemelin’s Bucaniers of America (1678) and Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates (1724) showed about the pirates and male readers themselves. (This essay also includes several illustrations from these publications.)

“A Woman Is to Blame: Gender and the Literature of Antebellum Pirate Confessions” is Matthew Taylor Raffety’s contribution. Those caught and punished often cited a woman in their past as the real culprit for their downfall. This female failed to provide the moral fabric necessary to keep the pirates from straying from the straight and narrow. Through an exploration of these confessions, printed in publications prior to the American Civil War, Raffety demonstrates how such portrayals mirrored contemporary morality and the difference between the female and male domains of the middle class during the nineteenth century.

The final essay is Adam Fortner’s “Pirate Ghosts and Buried Treasure: Hunting for Gold in the New American Republic.” He explores how pirates came to be entangled in folklore and what such tales truly tried to teach readers.

David Head, the editor, makes several key points about this collection in his concluding remarks. The contributors have taken sources long available to historians and examine them in new ways. Learning what pirates of yore can tell us is an ongoing process. These scholarly essays add to the existing body of published research to provide “the latest word, not the last word.” (240) Equally important to the factual study of pirates is that context matters and that much can be learned from exploring the cultural history.

The Golden Age of Piracy includes an index, and notes appear at the end of each essay. These provide tidbits about or clarification of statements made, as well as source material where readers can further explore covered topics.

The broader time frame explored in this book is important because there is far more to piracy in the Caribbean than just the early seventeenth century. It’s a common misconception among lay readers that pirates ceased to prey after 1730, yet the opposite is true as some of these scholars ably point out. Although these are scholarly articles, they are written in ways that appeal to all readers. They make us rethink what we think we know about pirates and the world in which they live. The Golden Age of Piracy is an invaluable and insightful addition to any library because it examines pirates through the world in which they lived, rather than through modern-day lenses. In doing so, the scholars skillfully provide important ways in which officials today can address this continuing problem.




View all my reviews

Review of Michael Aye's Peregrine

Peregrine by Michael Aye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The arrival of the French fleet off Sandy Hook, New York in 1778 becomes a waiting game as the British face their new enemy across a sand bar during the American Revolution. When conditions finally permit the French to advance, however, they opt not to engage in a battle of broadsides and sail away. No one knows why, but their absence allows Lieutenant George “Jep” Jepson to head south for Barbados to deliver his passenger, Sir Victor MacNeil, who works for the Foreign Office.

Sir Victor needs the assistance of Vice Admiral Lord Gilbert Anthony and his squadron. They are to collect colonial prisoners of war from St. Augustine, Florida and deliver them to Norfolk, Virginia for a prisoner exchange. The mission has added importance for Sir Victor, for among those to be reclaimed are British spies and should their true identities be discovered, they will face dire consequences. Gil’s presence is needed because of his acquaintanceship with the rebels’ representative, whom he met earlier in St. Augustine.

No matter how much planning takes place, something always goes awry. Something is amiss with Bart, Gil’s coxswain and longtime friend, and when the truth is uncovered, his life is in grave jeopardy. Aside from keeping a wary eye out for French privateers, distant gunfire alerts men aboard Captain Gabriel Anthony’s Peregrine of danger. When he sends a boat to discover what the fog conceals, they discover a dead body minus its uniform. Later, they come upon an American brigantine that has taken a British frigate. When Gabe and his men draw close, one of the captured seamen is tossed over the side before the brigantine sails away. The rescued victim delivers a chilling message that resurrects haunting images from the past for Gabe, his uncle Dagan, and Lieutenant Davy.

This book is the fifth entry in The Fighting Anthonys series. It opens with a list of characters in the series and ends with a glossary. Poems by the author introduce each section of the story, which is divided into three parts. One caveat regarding the character list is that it doesn’t include all of them. This volume introduces Sir Victor’s servant, but his name is not mentioned in his first scene. When he reappears, it’s disconcerting for readers to meet him by name and not immediately know who he is.

The unfolding of this adventure is uneven in the telling. Readers expecting Gil and Gabe to take center stage, as has been the case in previous volumes, will find that this title is more a tale about men who serve with them, such as Bart, Jep, and Dagan. Gabe doesn’t become a truly integral character until late in the story. There are also occasions where misspellings and poor wording interfere with the flow of sentences.

On the other hand, Aye’s medical background and naval experience provide tense scenes, sometimes with unexpected twists. This is especially true in those involving Bart’s operation and Dagan’s handling of their new nemesis who has ties to the past. Fans of the series will enjoy Peregrine, but readers new to the series will probably prefer starting with earlier titles to get a better feel for the characters and their adventures.




View all my reviews

Review of Michael Aye's Seahorse

SeaHorse by Michael Aye

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


An alert seaman hears the sound of gunfire. Out of the dense fog blanketing Carlisle Bay a fireship emerges. Those aboard HMS Prudent must deal with this threat before they can assist the anchored convoy. Only later is it revealed just how successful the ruse worked. It is but the latest of the daring raids by enemy privateers on British shipping in 1777.

Admiral Lord Gilbert Anthony savors his time ashore in England, getting to know his new daughter, Macayla, and renewing his acquaintance with his wife, Lady Deborah. While they enjoy their rare moments alone, his half brother Gabriel savors his recent promotion to Captain and eagerly awaits his upcoming nuptials with Faith Montique, whom he rescued from her nefarious uncle’s evil doings in South Carolina.

Such idyllic leisure ends much sooner than expected when both men receive new orders. Given a new flagship, Gil is to take up command of the Windward Islands and transport Lord Ragland to his new post as governor of Barbados. Gabe also receives a new, but unhappy, ship. Half of HMS Peregrine’s crew have deserted and the other half requested transfers. Refusing to be left ashore once again, both their wives declare that they will accompany their husbands on this voyage and then take up residence at Lady Deborah’s home on Antigua.

But before they depart, thugs posing as highwaymen attempt to assassinate Gil. A letter from Gabe’s uncle, Dagan, who stayed behind in the Colonies to visit with family and his new lady love, warns of approaching ill winds and that he will rendezvous with them in the Caribbean. Soon after the squadron departs Plymouth, escorting a convoy of merchant ships, the brothers discover just how cocky and daring the rebel privateers are after strange sails are sighted, vanish, and then launch a surprise attack. On their arrival in the West Indies, the news worsens as the war progresses. General Burgoyne surrenders, the British are preparing to evacuate Philadelphia, and the evidence confirms that soon after the New Year the French will join the Americans, which means the Spanish will as well.

The saga of The Fighting Anthonys continues in this fourth book in the series. As always, readers are treated to original poetry (such as “The Forgotten Salt”) from the author. These serve to introduce each of the three parts that make up the story. Unlike previous installments, this one is less even in the telling. What happens after the white flag is hoisted in chapter 15 is never clearly stated. Aside from Gabe’s first boarding of Peregrine, readers never see how he turns an unhappy ship into a happy one. While the scene depicting a lightning strike is astonishing, it lacks sufficient tension and Gil’s recovery is too quickly dispensed with. The ball scene flits from one character to another and Lord Ragland’s comment about not knowing what comes over a minor character’s behavior is one the reader will readily understand. There is no hint of this trait prior to its occurrence; nor does it surface anywhere else in the story. Some readers may also find the occasional interruptions in dialogue and narrative to explain nautical words – such as “sweeps (long oars)” – annoying. The book includes a glossary, where some of these words, but not others, are defined.

On the other hand, Seahorse is fraught with danger both on land and at sea. The assassination attempt on Gil is but the first “ill wind” they encounter; an enemy from the past carries out a vendetta against the brothers and anyone they love is fair game. Then there’s a perilous duel and a suspenseful sea battle. Not to mention a brief cameo by Captain Horatio Nelson. Fans of this series should enjoy this addition to The Fighting Anthonys.




View all my reviews

Review of MaryLu Tyndall's The Liberty Bride

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

Review of William Westbrook's The Black Ring

The Black Ring: The Nicholas Fallon Sea Novels, #2 by William Westbrook

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Keeping accounts and working in the office are not Nicholas Fallon’s cup of tea and after weeks of such busy work, he’s more than ready to return to the sea. His partner, Ezra Somers, founded the Somers Salt Company of Bermuda; his daughter, Elinore, is the love of Nicholas’s life. When a message requests Nicholas’s presence on Antigua, both are wise enough to know that the sea is as vital to him as blood. With his schooner refitted, he collects his crew, including his childhood friend, Beauty, and his coxswain, Aja. Beauty lost her leg in an accident many years ago, but she is the bravest person Nicholas knows and a superb second in command. Aja has grown from the scared, mute boy left to die on a sinking slave ship, to a vital member of the crew with hopes of one day captaining his own vessel.

Upon their arrival at English Harbor in Antigua, Nicholas joins Rear Admiral Harry Davies aboard his flagship. Although Nicholas is not part of the Royal Navy, he has, in the past, assisted them and the two men are good friends. This time Davies asks Nicholas to ferry a senior intelligence agent to Cuba, where the man can quietly slip ashore to discover whether there is sufficient dissatisfaction with Spain to warrant British help in undermining Spanish control of the island. As a privateer, Nicholas can go where the Royal Navy cannot. On a more personal note, Davies requests that Nicholas seek out a woman whom Davies cares for in Matanzas.

Always on the lookout for opportunities to take advantage of his letter of marque, Nicholas’s curiosity is aroused when they sight strange sails. The ship far surpasses his schooner in armament and men, but she runs up both a Spanish flag and a white one before asking Nicholas to come aboard. Since England and Spain are at war, it could be a trap, yet he accepts the offer. He doesn’t buy the captain’s story, and his doubt is confirmed when a passenger slips him a note saying they are actually prisoners. Still, there is more to the situation than the Spanish captain admits, which triggers one of Nicholas’s out-of-the-box ideas that results in the capture of the enemy vessel.

Nicholas and his crew also cross paths with pirates led by a ruthless defrocked priest known as the “Holy One.” They intercept secret communications between France and Spain that necessitate a visit to Haiti to warn Touissant Louverture. Then there are the captured runaway slaves and Davies’ friend at Matanzas who ae in need of rescuing before they face a firing squad. Beauty sustains a wound from which she may not recover, and news of her condition results in a deadly encounter with the Holy One for Ezra and Elinore.

Interspersed throughout the book are italicized chapters that recount the tale of a captured African warrior who is sold into slavery. These tell the story of Young David, who eventually crosses paths with Nicholas and Aja. All are vividly drawn, such as the portrayal of the slaver’s battle with pirates that unfolds from David’s perspective while he and the other slaves are chained belowdecks. Several are gut-wrenching depictions of the Middle Passage and life as a slave on Cuba. Yet entwined within them is an everlasting hope to reclaim his freedom, no matter the cost.

The myriad subplots are intriguing and expertly intertwined with the main part of the story. From first page to last, Westbrook snares the reader and doesn’t let go in this enthralling second Nicholas Fallon novel that surpasses the first. Spiced with gifted ingenuity and daring escapades, this nautical adventure is not to be missed.




View all my reviews