By Force Of Arms
A gripping naval adventure full of derring-do, guaranteed to have you hooked…
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4.4 • 7 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
From bestselling author James Nelson, an enthralling, swashbuckling naval adventure set in the American War of Independence, perfect for fans of C.S.Forester and Patrick O'Brian. You'll be gripped from the first page!
"Authenticity runs throughout the book, carrying total conviction" -- Patrick O'Brian.
"This is another great author, who knows what he writes about." - ***** Reader review.
"There is action and plot twists right up to the last page, I couldn't put it down." - ***** Reader review.
"A fine adventure series...first-rate action writing" -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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FORCED TO SACRIFICE THE SHIP HE LOVES. CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY. CAN HE CHANGE HIS FATE?
1775. The American War of Independence is starting in earnest and Captain - and smuggler - Isaac Biddlecomb, pursued by HMS Rose, sacrifices his ship, the Judea, rather than surrender to the British.
Forced to go on the run, and to disguise himself as a lowly ship's mate on a brig bound for Jamaica, he finds himself captured by the enemy.
Can he use his wits to survive a life of servitude under the deranged captain and sadistic crew of the HMS Icarus...?
By Force of Arms is the first novel in James Nelson's Revolution at Sea series. Biddlecomb's story continues in The Maddest Idea.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The American Revolution has been well covered in fiction, but almost entirely as a land war-much as the War of 1812 has been treated virtually only as a naval war. By Force of Arms is the first book of a new series that will address the former shortcoming by following the career of Isaac Biddlecomb, a merchant seaman who has risen from the forecastle to the command of a vessel at the opening of the story. Biddlecomb isn't a natural-born hero at home in a hail of grape in the tradition of Hornblower or Aubrey. He is an ordinary American living in an extraordinary time, and Nelson, who has sailed aboard the modern reconstruction of the Revolutionary-period frigate H.M.S. Rose, makes clever use of this device to explain issues of the war and man-of-war life to the reader in unobtrusive fashion. Nelson's seagoing experience is evident in his clear, convincing description of the sailing. His dialogue, however, lacks the period feel of O'Brian and Forester-several times denizens of both the quarterdeck and the forecastle indicate assent with "Okay," which didn't degrade the vernacular for another century. Biddlecomb's sidekick is Ezra Rumstick, part-time patriot, part-time smuggler, full-time friend, and his nemesis is Captain James Wallace, the thoroughly professional commander of the Rose. The characters are strong and realistic, the plot and action believable and brisk, if none too complex, and readers will care enough about Biddlecomb's welfare to reach for Nelson's second installment. On the whole, an engaging start to what promises to be a fine adventure series in a neglected milieu.
