Review of The Reaper

The Reaper by Michael Aye

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After preventing pirates from capturing a convoy of East India Company ships, Captain Gilbert Anthony finds his life and career in the Royal Navy forever altered. Newspapers tout his bravery and honor throughout the kingdom. A grateful EIC honor him with gold coins and a ceremonial sword. The king bestows on him a knighthood. And his father entrusts him with training his half brother, Midshipman Gabriel Anthony, to become a naval officer. This last task also involves inheriting Gabe’s uncle, who seems to be Gabe’s protector, but Dagan is a skilled topman with sharp eyes, which make him as asset aboard Gil’s ship.

On his father’s death, Gil becomes the Earl of Deerfield, but the Admiralty has need of him far from England’s shores. Colonial grievances have been mounting and the possibility of war looms. A more immediate threat, however, are the pirates preying on merchant ships in the Caribbean and off the coast of America. With his recent success against such rogues, the Admiralty thinks he’s the best one to confront this menace. To aid in this endeavor Gil assumes command of HMS Drakkar, one of the realm’s largest frigates captured in 1759 from the French. Gabe will serve as the senior midshipman, and among the other gentlemen joining the crew are a young boy named Mr. Davy and Fourth Lieutenant Witzenfeld.

Soon after the frigate sails for Antigua, Witzenfeld reveals his true character – a cruel tyrant with a temper and a vulgar mouth to match. He continually persecutes Davy, which brings the lieutenant into contention with Gabe. Problems escalate, forcing Gil to find a tactful way to deal convince the crew that they can trust him while demonstrating no favoritism or permitting abuse.

A second complication comes when they sight two schooners plundering a barque. One woman who survives the attack is Lady Deborah McKean, to whom Gil finds himself attracted – a thought that irks him since she just witnessed the murder of her husband, as well as the brutal rapes and murders of the other women aboard the merchant ship. Turning his attention to his purpose for coming to the West Indies, Gil gathers what scant information he can of the attack, leaving him with more questions than answers. That trend continues after further encounters with the pirates, including rumors of a fifty-gun black ship with black sails. Might there be someone ashore in league with the pirates? Why do they rarely leave survivors, even those who might garner high ransoms? Or is there a more nefarious purpose behind the attacks? When a coded letter falls into Gil’s hands, he acquires vital information that might lead to answers . . . if they can decode the message.

First issued in 2005, The Reaper is the first book in The Fighting Anthonys series and this new edition has been revised. Readers are quickly drawn into this high seas adventure, rife with action and interwoven with romance. It even includes some original poetry by Aye. While no decisive indication of the time frame is provided, it occurs sometime after the Battle of Quiberon Bay (November 1759) and July 1775 when the epilogue takes place. If there is any drawback at all in the story, it is that it ends too soon, but The Reaper definitely snares the reader into wanting to read the second volume, HMS Seawolf. It is indeed a worthy addition to the growing collection of nautical fiction.




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