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Take, Burn Or Destroy (2013)

by Sean Thomas Russell(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0399158960 (ISBN13: 9780399158964)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Putnam Adult

series

Adventures of Charles Hayden

review 1: 1794, the height of the French Revolution—Charles Hayden sets off aboard the ill-fated HMS Themis with orders to destroy a French frigate sailing from Le Havre and to gather intelligence from a royalist spy. On discovering French plans for an imminent invasion of England, Hayden must return to Portsmouth to give warning before it’s too late.But the enemy has been lying in wait for him, and so begins a dangerous chase out into the Atlantic and into the clutches of a powerful French squadron. After a thwarted attempt to masquerade as French sailors, Hayden and his officers are taken prisoner. A shipwreck following a storm and a case of mistaken identity befall Hayden and his men, as they try in desperation to escape in order to warn the Lords of the Admiralty. Failure wi... morell mean the invasion of England—and the guillotine for Hayden. Guess I am a nerd, but these novels with correct shipboard language and obvious knowledge of history really grab my interest. The battle scenes are amazingly vivid. I was disappointed in the scene with Hayden and his French caretaker, however.
review 2: This is the third book from this new author and continues the adventures of Captain Charles Hayden. Like some of his contemporaries, Russell tries to tries to weave in a lot of character and personal drama instead of telling a pure nautical yarn. In some ways this works well but I don't think it was totally successful. Hayden's personal life is tied up with a trio of daughters and obviously reminds one of Pride and Prejudice. Throw in a bit of Romeo and Juliet and you have some idea of the drama involved here.There is some great action at the end of the book and despite all killing the officers always show that they are honorable men. While reading this I realized that this type of naval adventure reminds of the character dynamics in Star Trek. The officers are the main characters and the crew are incidental to the story and the action. If anything significant happens, one of the officers is responsible, or right there in the thick of it. The ending leaves the reader not knowing the fate of one of the main characters, so I will be looking out for the fourth book.In the USA this book is published as "Take, Burn or Destroy". In the UK it is published under it's original title "A Ship of War". No idea why that is but it's pretty stupid as the US title makes no sense at all and has nothing to do with the story. Probably the word 'war' in the title was considered to be non PC..... go figure. less

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