The Perils of Command

John Pearce #12

by David Donachie

John Pearce, having negotiated the highly questionable sale of the two French prizes taken in The Devil to Pay, has left HMS Flirt, as well as the crew and the wounded Henry Digby in Brindisi and is headed for Naples to see his lover. In an uncomfortable journey he seeks to work out a way to best both Admiral Sir William Hotham and Captain Ralph Barclay, men who are his sworn enemies. All his calculations are thrown into turmoil when he discovers that Emily is pregnant which, while it is a cause for joy, is also a reason to worry; she is still married to Ralph Barclay and by the laws of the time he can claim the child as his own.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published November 19, 2015

About the author

aka Tom Connery, Johnny 'Two Combs' Howard, Jack Ludlow.

David Donachie was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has had a variety of jobs, including selling everything from business machines to soap. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which he drew upon for the many novels he has set in that period. The author of a number of bestselling books, he now lives in Deal with his wife, fellow A&B author Sarah Grazebrook.

Reviews

[keith lady moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outrageous

Easy reading to stop worrying about the pandemic that is sweeping the country it's better than the rubbish that is passing itself off as good viewing by the BBC in thankful that I have found a writer who can keep us informed about the brutality of the fight against the french at sea and the harshness of the way the injured were treated.a real eye opener