Publisher Description

Volume #8 in the popular high-seas nautical adventure series featuring naval hero Thomas Kydd. It is 1803; Kydd returns to England on the eve of war with France and finds himself drawn to the admiral's beautiful daughter. When he is placed back in command of the Teazer and sent on an urgent mission to northern France, he faces smugglers, enemy privateers, and treacherous sea conditions.

Author Biography

At the age of fourteen, Julian Stockwin went to TS Indefatigable, a tough sea-training school. He joined the British Royal Navy at fifteen before transferring to the Royal Australian Navy, where he served for eight years in the Far East, the Antarctic, and the South Seas. Retired as a lieutenant commander, he lives in Devon, England, with his wife and literary partner, Kathy.

Review

A rousingly exciting and delicious full-immersion in the perils of seafaring and society during the great Age of Sail!
Comparable to C.C. Humphreys's Jack Absolute series and the naval tales of the great Patrick O'Brian.
Elegantly plotted . . . the writing has the power of a broadside at close range.
Likable Tom and his shipmates make a snug fit in that page-turning Forester and O'Brian tradition--thanks to retired Royal Navy author Stockwin.
Period dialect and seagoing argot aplenty add credibility to the adventure, and the unworldly Kydd is an apt lens for the reader's journey.
Stockwin's descriptions of the bloody reality of naval combat 200 years ago are memorably vivid, and reveal a profound respect for the seamen who were willing to sacrifice their lives to help save their country.
Stockwin's writing is enriched by his own experiences in the Royal Navy, which gives scenes of fighting and tempest an authenticity to delight anyone who shares his passion for the sea.
The vantage point of the common sailor gives the nautical novel a fresh twist. In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world.
A blend of highs and lows that will affect each reader in different ways. It is consummate storytelling that is not to be missed.
Fans of fast-paced adventure will get their fill with this book.

Review Quote

"Stockwin's richly detailed . . . portrait of life on ship and shore in Britain's oceanic empire is engrossing. He writes evocatively of shipboard routine, the panic and confusion of combat, and the terrifying approach of a storm at sea, and he knows how to stage enthralling action scenes." --"Publishers Weekly" on the Kydd Sea Adventures series

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