HMS Hazard (John Pearce, 16)
In the early summer of 1796, John Pearce commands the 14-gun Royal Navy sailing ship HMS Hazard. She is manned by inexperienced “quota men” conscripted from various places. Spain, France, England, Portugal, and Holland have been engaged in decades of war, truces, shifting alliances, and war again. Pearce has orders to surveil parts of coastal France and then Spain and learn what he can about their battle readiness and intentions. Samuel Oliphant, a clever but irritating civilian spy, must travel with Pearce.
Over a few short weeks, Pearce deals with a deadly mutinous crew faction, sneaks ashore in France, and then runs south to Spain, whose friendship with England is tenuous. If Spain were to become an ally of France, England’s power would wane. Rumors have it that a giant warship is headed to Spain from the New World with a cargo of silver to fund Spain’s break from England and new aggression.
Pearce faces unresolved challenges back home too. His secret affair with a married lover has borne them a baby son. Well-connected merchants maneuver to strip Pearce of his rank and take for themselves bounties he captured from enemy vessels.
Donachie’s prose and dialogue fit the language of those times. He knows the ships, their crews, and battle strategies. He puts readers on the ocean and waterways, in tight landing areas and unfriendly towns. Pearce and Oliphant’s clever moves to obtain information, while avoiding capture, are riveting. This novel’s plotlines and character relationships will be fully appreciated by fans of the prior fifteen John Pearce novels. Without that background, Pearce still makes for an interesting and dashing leader, and his current adventures at sea and on land are worth the read.
