The Reaper

By Michael Aye

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The year is 1775. As the book opens, Captain Gilbert Anthony’s dying father, the famous “Fighting James Anthony,” retired Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, tells him that he has a half-brother named Gabriel. Upon his father’s death, Captain Anthony visits his mother, who had been separated from his father, and finds her delirious and living under the delusion that her husband is still alive. He decides it best not to tell her about Gabriel, born from the womb of another woman.

Given command of the fourth-rate Drakkar, Captain Anthony is ordered to the Caribbean to capture pirates, led by the infamous black-sailed ship, the Reaper. The pirates are harassing British shipping by attacking mail ships sailing back to England. Captain Anthony requests the British admiralty assign Gabriel, an experienced sailor, to accompany him and serve as his senior midshipman.

If you enjoy seafaring adventures of the British navy like those written by Alexander Kent and Dudley Pope, you’ll become immersed in the trials, tribulations and love interests of Captain Gilbert Anthony. The author is a retired American naval officer, and in future installments of “The Fighting Anthonys” series, it should be fascinating to see how he writes about a British protagonist fighting the American colonists during the American Revolution. This could also present quite a challenge for him.

I look forward to the next volume in the series. Aye does a good job fleshing out his characters and telling his story.