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.




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