It is the spring of 1800. Captain Alan Lewrie, fresh from victory in the South Atlantic, is back in England and fitting out his new frigate, the HMS Savage. But true to fashion, Lewrie can't stay ashore too long without trouble arising. A Jamaican court has tried him in absentia and sentenced him to hang for the theft of a dozen black slaves. The vengeful slave owner has made his way to London to seek Lewrie's end . . . with or without the majesty of the law! To complicate matters further, Lewrie must also deal with allegations that he is a faithless rakehell, as his wife has been informed through anonymous letters. Despite shoreside legal matters, Lewrie takes the Savage on King's business to Sou'west France to plug the threat of enemy warships, privateers, and neutrals smuggling goods in and out of Bordeaux. It could be dull and plodding dreariness, but a bored Captain Alan Lewrie, safe in his post (for the moment), can be a dangerous fellow to his country's foes . . . if only to relieve the tedium!
After Yellow Fever decimated the crew of Alan Lewrie's HMS Proteus, it had seemed like a knacky idea to abscond with a dozen slaves from a Jamaican plantation to help man his frigate. But two years later, Lewrie is now suspected of the deed. Slave-stealing is a hanging offense, and suddenly his neck is at risk of a fatal stretching. Once Lewrie has escaped, the master Foreign Office spy, Zachariah Twigg, arranges for a long voyage even further out of the law's reach, to Cape Town and India, as escort to an East India Company convoy. At the Cape of Good Hope a British circus and theatrical troupe also joins the party, teeming with tempting female acrobats, nubile bareback riders, and alluring "actresses" like the seductive but deadly archer Eudoxia Durschenko. It will take all Lewrie's shrewd guile, wit, and steely self-control to worm his way out of trouble, and keep his breeches chastely buttoned to avoid even more troubles . . . or will he?
It is early February, 1799, a year of war. Sailing in the Caribbean, Captain Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, is once again pursuing a chimera. A rich French prize ship he'd left at anchor at Dominica has gone missing, along with six of his sailors. What starts as a straightforward search for it, and them, from Hispaniola to Barbados, far down the Antilles, leads Lewrie to a gruesome discovery on the Dry Tortugas and to a vile cabal of the most pitiless and depraved pirates ever to sail under the "Jolly Roger" . . . and the suspicion that one of his trusted hands just may be the worst of them all. Against his will-again-the usually irrepressible Lewrie is made his superiors' "cat's-paw" once more, and his covert mission this time is to go up the Mississippi in enemy-held Spanish Louisiana to the romantic but sordid port of New Orleans in search of pirates and prize, where one false step could betray Lewrie and his small party as spies. Beguilements, betrayal, and death lurk 'round every corner of the Vieux Carre, and it's up to Lewrie's quick but cynical wits to win the day for their survival and wreak a very personal vengeance on his foes.
Book 9 in the Alan Lewrie series.
Following in the footsteps of Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, whose ripping adventures capture thousands of new fans each year, comes the heir apparent to the mantle of Forester and O'Brian: Dewey Lambdin and his acclaimed Alan Lewrie series.
In King's Captain, Alan Lewrie is promoted for his quick action in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. But before he's even had a chance to settle into his new role, a mutiny rages through the fleet, and the sudden reappearance of an old enemy has Lewrie fighting not just for his command but for his life.
1793--For love of war and money . . .
Once a French corvette, she was reborn HMS Jester, sleek and fast. At her sea-sprayed helm is former Midshipman Alan Lewrie, turned grizzled warrior by trade. But when Commander Lewrie reaches the island of Corsica he gets orders for which even he is not prepared: lure his archenemy, French commander Guillaume Choundas, into battle--and personally strike him dead. . . .
From splintering-hulled ships battling broadside to exotic ports of call, the adventures of Alan Lewrie capture an age of heroism and action on the great, wind-lashed fighting ships.
1782 First officer on brig o'war . . .
Fresh from duty on the frigate Desperate in her fight with the French Capricieuse off St. Kitts, Midshipman Alan Lewrie passes his examination board for Lieutenancy and finds himself commissioned first officer of the brig o'war Shrike. There's time for some dalliance with the fair sex, and then Lieutenant Lewrie must be off to patrol the North American coast and attempt to bring the Muskogees and Seminoles onto the British side against the American rebels (dalliance with an Indian maiden is just part of the mission). Then it's back to the Caribbean, to sail beside Captain Horatio Nelson in the Battle for Turks Island. . . .
Naval officer and rogue, Alan Lewrie is a man of his times and a hero for all times. His equals are Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin--sailors beloved by readers all over the world.
Praise for The Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie
"Plenty of action . . . Fast-paced, graphically descriptive and well-plotted."
--The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star
"Fast-moving. . . A hugely likable hero, a huge cast of sharply drawn supporting characters: there's nothing missing. Wonderful stuff."
--Kirkus Reviews
"You could get addicted to this series. Easily."
--The New York Times Book Review
1788--Bahamas Squadron . . .
A fighter, rogue, and ladies man, Alan Lewrie has done the unthinkable and gotten himself hitched--to a woman and a ship! The woman is the lovely Caroline Chiswick. The ship is the gun ketch, Alacrity, bound for the Bahamas and a bloody game of cat and mouse with the pirates who ply the lunatic winds there. But while war comes naturally to the young husband, politics doesn't. Sure that a powerful Bahamian merchant is behind a scourge of piracy, Lewrie runs afoul of the Royal Governor--who holds the most precious hostage of all. . . .
From the windswept Carolinas to the exotic East Indies, Alan Lewrie fights and frolics with all the wild abandon of the high seas themselves. He's a true swashbuckling naval hero in the age of great sailing ships.
"Grand, satisfying . . . Fans as well as newcomers will relish Lambdin's unerring depiction of Navy politicking, the niceties of Nassau society . . . and, in fact, all the rich details of late-18th-century life at sea and shore."
--PublishersWeekly
"Hair-raising action . . . Fascinating . . . Grandly entertaining."
--The Flint Journal
"Recommended . . . Lambdin's work is comparable to that of masters such as C. S. Forester."
--Library Journal
"You could get addicted to this series. Easily."
*The New York Times Book Review
1793 *In the seas of revolution . . .
A farmer, a bloody farmer! Knee-deep in dung and fathoms from the nearest port, Alan Lewrie, swashbuckling naval warrior turned family man, longs for battle. And when it comes, a battle royal it is! Called to the H.M.S. Cockerel, a sleek frigate captained by a malaria-stricken tyrant, First Officer Lewrie soon vaults to command, taking Cockerel from the lush pleasures of the Kingdom of Naples to a smoking cauldron called Toulon. There, an outnumbered coalition of former enemies is being drawn into a terrible land-sea battle against the revolutionary French *in a siege of blood and terror that will send shock waves around the world. . . .
He's fought and loved on land and bounding sea from America to the East Indies. Alan Lewrie is the unforgettable hero-rogue of the age of wooden-walled, spray-lashed fighting ships.
"THIS IS LAMBDIN'S USUAL SATISFYING BREW. . . . A fast-moving yarn loaded with action, colorful characters, and marvelous period detail." *Publishers Weekly
"GREAT FUN . . . Lambdin continues to plunk Alan Lewrie down in the midst of interesting times with humor and plenty of authentic detail."
*Kirkus Reviews
1783: His Majesty's secret agent
Fresh from war in the Americas, young navy veteran Alan Lewrie finds London pure pleasure. Then, at Plymouth he boards the trading ship Telesto, to find out why merchantmen are disappearing in the East Indies. Between the pungent shores of Calcutta and teaming Canton, Lewrie-reunited with his scoundrel father-discovers a young French captain, backed by an armada of Mindanaon pirates, on a plundering rampage. While treaties tie the navy's hands, a King's privateer is free to plunge into the fire and blood of a dirty little war on the high South China Sea.
Ladies' man, officer, and rogue, Alan Lewrie is the ultimate man of adventure. In the worthy tradition of Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin, his exploits echo with the sounds of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare.
The very first Alan Lewrie naval adventure in this classic series is now back in print!
1780: Seventeen-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of navy discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding--rather unexpectedly--that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise. . . .
It is 1781 and the British-held American port of Yorktown on the Chesapeake Bay is under siege. Pounded by the American colonists on land and the deadly warships of their French allies at sea, the once proud city is in flames and near ruin. But on the horizon, the King's own fleet of heavily armed frigates heads full sail to blast through France's blockade. Aboard His Majesty's swift flagship DESPERATE, midshipman Alan Lewrie quickly sets his gunners to their lethal work, firing rapid broadsides of twenty-four pound shot at the enemy vessels. Cannon fire lights up the death-filled night as the fate of the King's Colonies hangs on the bravery of one young midshipman leading his ships into the fiery jaws of battle.
