My first exposure to an Alexander Kent book and it was a fairly enjoyable experience. The story is short and there are many scenes of seafaring action which the author writes with aplomb. We watch as ships of war tear each other apart and villains are dispatched gruesomely. All through this, the stern and darkly brooding Bolitho and his faithful companion Allday manage to overcome all manner of adversity.The plot is fairly complex with many peripheral characters. There's conspiracy afoot, with many of the enemy on the same side, as in a Cornwell book. I found Kent's style to be inferior to that of my favourite authors. He has a sketchiness about him that can be difficult to read at times, although his grasp of the sea and seafaring is spot on, having come about from years of real-life experience.There are a couple of unforgivable proofing errors in the text in which main characters's names are transposed. This totally throws the reader out of the story. It's a shame.Elsewhere, there are highlights, including Allday's adventure as a would-be smuggler and a climatic battle about two thirds of the way through the book that serves as a natural ending - although we have extra stuff going on after that.I enjoyed the book as a light read, but it hasn't grabbed me in the way a Gemmell or Cornwell might. I'd read another in the series, although I'm not in a great hurry to do so.
Spring, 1792, and Richard Bolitho is seeking to return to the active duty. He has recovered from the fever that he contacted in his Pacific adventures. He is given command of three top sail cutters to combat rampant smuggling between England and the continent. The situation is complicated because of the influencial people involved in the smuggling as well as the developing situation in France during the Revolution and nearing war between England and France. Not as much naval action as others in the series, but more clandestine involvement and dealing with shady influencial British aristocrats. Also a bit different in that the story jumps a few times from situation to situation without much explanation how Bolitho got from from thing to the next.
