Review: Turn a Blind Eye by Alaric Bond – Historic Naval Fiction

Alaric Bond’s new novel, Turn A Blind Eye, moves away from his ‘Fighting Sail’ series and the Royal Navy to the world of smuggling on the South Coast of England. It follows Commander Griffin and the crew of the Revenue cutter Bee as they battle to rid Newhaven of an entrenched gang of snugglers who hold sway over the town.

Bond is a master storyteller and he weaves a well written plot that explores the divided loyalties of the townsfolk who support small scale smuggling but are fearful of the gangs strength. The narrative vividly recounts life in a small fishing town where the Revenue men seek to combat a practice that is draining the country of money to fight the war against France and even sometimes supplying the enemy, whilst their fast agile cutter is often outgunned by the smugglers.

As usual Bond’s research shines through as he subtly educates us about smuggling in a fast paced hard to put down book. Highly Recommended.

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Review: Admiralty Orders by M. C. Muir – Historic Naval Fiction

In this the third book of Under Admiralty Orders – The Oliver Quintrell Series M. C. Muir continues to develop old and new interesting characters who do not follow the norm of most naval fiction adventures.

Gibraltar has a walk on part in many naval fiction novels, however in Admiralty Orders it comes centre stage as Quintrell and his crew are sent to join the defences as war with Spain looms. While plague depletes the garrison and population of ‘The Rock’ during 1804 and the resultant quarantine cuts off help from the Mediterranean fleet Quintrell must offer what assistance he can to defend the colony.

As you might expect, this novel is mainly land based but it is good to read about the realities of life in this tiny outpost of vital importance to the Royal Navy. The true events of 1804 are woven into a well writter and believable plot. I continue to enjoy reading Quintrell’s adventures and look forward to the next in the series Coins for the Colony. Recommended.

via Review: Admiralty Orders by M. C. Muir – Historic Naval Fiction.