Admiral Bolitho leads a small squadron tasked with destroying the small craft the French are building to convey an invasion force across the Channel, shortly before the anticipated Treaty of Amiens brings a temporary peace. His captains include Thomas Herrick (a commodore in this book), Francis Inch, Oliver Browne-with-an-e, John Neale, and Valentine Keen. And old Phalarope–Bolito’s frigate in To Glory We Steer–joins the fleet on location, with Adam Pascoe as first lieutenant. Things go wrong, then they go right.
There are telegraph towers, too. All of these Royal Navy series need a story involving telegraph towers. (That’s a cheap shot. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)
Besides the naval action, and a bit of political discussion, this book’s notable for its portrayal of Belinda Laidlaw, who’s loyal (far beyond the call of duty) and loving. At the end of the book Richard and Belinda marry.
McBooks Press (or perhaps IPG, their distributor) is the only publisher I read that routinely does scanned ebooks properly. They’ve obviously given thought to presentation, as chapter headings are deliberately (albeit oddly) formatted, nearly all scanning artifacts have been fixed, and mid-chapter text breaks are clearly indicated. The big publishers should take note, and follow suit.
This review was originally published on LibraryThing.