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(More customer reviews)S. Thomas Russell debuts with `Under Enemy Colors' an age of sail novel set in 1793. Lieutenant Charles Hayden finds himself summoned by the First Secretary of the Navy Philip Stephens who offers him a position aboard the Themis as first lieutenant - with an added duty to file secret reports with Stephens. Hayden reluctantly accepts what he feels are Stephens' somewhat dishonorable demands. Arriving for service he finds a ship in utter disarray under the command of the `shy' tyrant Josiah Hart. Hayden's efforts to set the ship aright are frustrated by the captain and the second lieutenant as much as by a fractious crew.
That much the reader learns in the first 50 pages. From there Russell takes the reader along on a rollicking good tale with a stealthy night-time ambuscade, espionage on French soil, sea battles with broadsides and boardings, and a mutiny. For all the action Russell also manages to weave in Hayden's back story (his mother is French), a budding romance, a debate society among the middies, and even an inventor's attempted improvement on the ship's guns. Russell's talents shine as he unfolds the courts martial and accompanying naval intrigue.
`Under Enemy Colors' inevitably draws comparison to the tales of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey and Russell relishes the challenge. This reviewer finds himself somewhat surprised, but delighted to report that Russell's Charles Hayden just may be up to the task. Russell at times seems to be in a rush to get his series fully under sail, but perhaps that may be excused by the obvious care and devotion the author gave to writing this book. Russell promises another installment in 2009. Let's hope it fulfills the promise of `Under Enemy Colors', which was just a heck of a lot of fun to read.
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