H.M.S. Cockerel [Mass Market Paperback]

Lieutenant Alan Lewrie seems to be getting good at this navy thing. In this sixth in the series, it's January 1793 and four years have passed since Lewrie returned home to his wife and kiddies (three of them now); the matrimonial state, as well as playing the almost-squire, is beginning to wear on him just a bit. The French Revolution is under way, though, and renewed war with a very different sort of France is in the air. Lewrie is called up by the Admiralty (he debates whether to accept for, oh, . . . two minutes), but his enemies see to it that he gets shunted to the Impress Service. But that provides an opportunity to get his own back with his detestable half-brother, Gerald, so it's not all wasted time. Then he gets posted to COCKEREL, a 5th Rate frigate under the hard hand of Capt. Braxton, an ultra-nepotistical near-psychopath who is determined that this last opportunity in his career to make his mark will go absolutely perfectly -- even if he has to flog every member of the crew and bully every officer to do it. Lewrie is between the proverbial rock and hard place, between a micro-managing captain who is impossible to please but whose will he must enforce, and a crew nearing mutiny. But all that, while a very well painted portrait of a ship on its way to disaster, is still only the background for the set-piece of this book, which is the disastrous Allied capture and occupation of, and final rout from, the Royalist Mediterranean city of Toulon -- the victim of divisive party politics back in London. Of course, no matter how much Lewrie might truly love his wife, he still can't keep his breeches zipped. First, there's Lady Emma Hamilton in Naples (and he gets there before Nelson), and then there's the adorable little French whore, Zoe, whom he rescues from death at the hands of the Republicans. But Lewrie's big discovery is just how loud a bang a naval mortar can make. And there's also an encounter on the beach with an artillery colonel named Buonaparte, just to keep things interesting. And, by the end of the story, our lieutenant -- now over the hill (in his opinion) at age thirty -- makes his next jump up the ladder of success. An excellent episode in the series. (And Waterloo is still twenty-two years away!)

This is the first Alan Lewrie novel I've read, and though starting in the middle of a series might be off-putting, I was instantly hooked. There are some great character profiles here, particularly the weak and horrible Captain Braxton. Lewrie is a great mixture of the upright English imperial master of all he surveys while at sea, and on shore, a captive of the baser desires. The only shorcoming of this novel is the excessive use of outrageous Frrrench accents (to borrow from Monty Python) by some minor characters, that grated. Problem being, every French character seemed to 'ave exactement zee same amount of mal Ainglish at zer deesposal. Otherwise, a great read.

Lambdin does it again in this (the 6th) installment of the Alan Lewrie chronicles.

I really enjoyed this one though I must admit there were some slow points and trying to muddle through all the French was annoying.

Lambdin does a wonderful job weaving history and fiction and Cockerel is no exception. The thought of Lewrie getting a leg over on Emma Hamilton is quite amusing as is the idea of him coming face to face with Napoleon and Captain Bligh.

Lewrie and his well developed supporting cast will surely keep you entertained. Definitely a worth while read.