The Honored Dead (The Honor Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Four stars, down from five in the early series. Peter Wake started out as an ernest young naval officer trying to blockade rebels on the western Florida coast during the civil war. Now six books later after fighting African slavers, advising the French building the Panama Canal and chasing evil doers through the Caribbean, he has morphed into an intelligence officer with high connections to the US President, the Pope and such. We learn some history of southeast Asia in the 1880's but Peter seems mostly along for the ride, somewhat incidental to the story. I wish the talented Mr. Macomber would return to his Florida roots and explore the history of post Civil War Florida with different characters if need be (though I guess Sean, his son, who we know to be destined for the admiralty will soon appear). The appearance of the Yard Dogs in the last chapter is an "in" joke but must seem strange to those not in the know.

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The award-winning Honor series continues with this fast-paced thriller as, amidst exotic beauty and palace intrigue in 1883 French Indochina, U.S. naval intelligence officer Peter Wake is thrust into international events.

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The Blighted Cliffs: Book One of the Reluctant Adventures of Lieutenant Martin Jerrold Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book because it promised to be a naval analog of George McDonald Fraser's FLASHMAN. It was not but I was not disappointed.
The books takes place on the Kentish coast during the Napoleonic wars. Lieutenant Martin Jerrold has been sent there in disgrace. While he was at the battle of Trafalgar, he took no active part. He managed to get himself stuck in the hold of his ship and lost out on any chance of notice or distinction. So it is that he is sent to work with a revenue cutter and help suppress the thriving smuggling trade. He is only there for a single night, drunk, before he manages to get into trouble. While stepping out to relieve himself, he wanders into a smuggling operation gone wrong. A man is killed and the Lieutenant becomes the prime suspect. He finds himself in a situation where he must not only carry out his duties to suppress the smuggling trade, he must use all of his free time to try and clear his name before the deadline runs out. His bad reputation, bad luck and French intrigue do not help matters.
The protagonist of the book is not cut from heroic cloth but he is not the complete poltroon that the Harry Flashman character is; he does not seek trouble for its own sake. Instead, he is a bumbler who has bad luck. When the chips are down, though, he does possess a modicum of honor. He is not a character we like to revile. Instead, he is one with whom it is all too easy to identify.
This book is not as funny or exciting as the FLASHMAN series but neither is it as strained and contrived. It is a good read and I look forward to reading more.


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A Different Kind of Honor (The Honor Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)The last half of the 19th century seemed to me to be a very weak period for a history of the US Navy. Leave out John Paul Jones, the Barbary pirates and the Confederate Navy advances and I thought the US Navy slumbered for most of the 19th century. HOWEVER, Macomber has managed very well to bring the US Navy to the world stage. The series has advanced quite spritely with "A Different Kind of Honor" being the best of the series so far. Remembering the fights between the diesel admirals and the nuclear admirals, I can well identify with the fight of the sail admirals and the Congressional penury versus the diesel admirals for a modern navy. I look forward to the next in the series.

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Peter Wicked: A Matty Graves Novel (The Matty Graves Novels) Review

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(More customer reviews)Peter Wicked: A Matty Graves Novel
by Broos Campbell
McBooks Press, Inc.
2008
I will preface this review by stating that this is the first of the Matty Graves novels I have read, even though it is the third book of the series. Luckily, knowledge of the other books was not necessary in order to follow this novel.
The novel starts unpromisingly with a wordy opening chapter full of descriptors more apt to appear in a romance novel than in a light naval adventure. For example, "He had the dark, deep, liquidy sort of eyes that lady novelists call "brooding", a mass of jet curls that cascaded down his forehead, full moist lips, and a pudgy but sturdy cleft chin."(p. 6).
Between this and the repeated focus on the Paw Paw trees, I would not have been surprised if Matty Graves and the French Lieutenant described above started declaring their undying love for each other.
Luckily, the writing style changed a little in the next chapter and the plot actually started. It turned out to be a decent, if not exciting, light naval adventure.
The end was a little predictable, in that I could see where it was going, and was correct in my surmises. I was also disappointed in the lack of empathy and feelings I had invested in the characters. Besides Matty, the other characters really were not built on and therefore did not seem relevant.
I give it a firm three stars, out of five. Why? 1. It was an enjoyable read, but nothing special. 2. It did not inspire me to read the previous novels. and 3. If I had been looking at this book at a bookstore or library, I would have put it back after reading the first chapter.

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The Time of Terror: A Novel (The Nathan Peake Novels) Review

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(More customer reviews)Blood, gore, and a little more blood for good measure - that's how I once heard the Terror of the French Revolution described. This book is no disappointment for one looking for an interesting nautical adventure intermixed with the horrors of the French Revolution.
Nathaniel Peake (or should I say Turner, which is the alias he uses during most of the story) is an intriguing sea captain who opts to accept a special assignment that lands him right in the midst of Revolutionary France.
Hunter takes liberties with some of the characters, but that's what good historical fiction is all about - take someone real and make them even more sinister or more lovable. I enjoyed how he played up Robspierre, and his treatment of Thomas Paine was utterly fascinating.
The love story was a bit too much for me - I think the book probably would have been better had Hunter focused on the swashbuckling adventures and hijinks of Peake instead. Having said that, the little bit of romance that was present made for an underlying current that added a bit, and probably set the tone for another book in the series.
Can't say that I loved it, but it's worth reading. The fact that the author is British, as is the hero, makes the book intriguing and fun.

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Under Enemy Colors Review

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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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The Darkest Shade of Honor: A Novel of Cmdr. Peter Wake, U.S.N. (The Honor Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read and enjoyed all of Bob Macomber's "Honor" series. This was one of his best. It was interesting and action filled. It was great to find Peter Wake back in Southwest Florida. The different incidents and coastal areas where the story takes places made it especially enjoyable. Learning about Florida history along with some of the roots of Cuban independence, and meeting a young Theodore Roosevelt made it all the more fascinating.

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