The Continental Risque

by James L. Nelson Narrated by John Lee

Overview

With the flash of cutlass and the roar of cannon fire, this sweeping saga of high-seas adventure continues-as the revolutionaries' fight for freedom explodes into all-out war.

It's the winter of 1776, a year that brings with it a fiery new spirit of colonial independence. Tensions simmering over a decade have finally come to a boil, and the rebel government in Philadelphia, determined to cast off the chains of British tyranny, has authorized the creation of the United States Navy-a brazen act of American aggression against the greatest maritime power in the world.

Still battered from her fight in Bermudan waters, the brig-of-war Charlemagne, under Captain Isaac Biddlecomb, sets sail on a daring mission to raid the British store of arms on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. But even as the captain takes the lead in the first amphibious assault in American naval history, he discovers that his greatest enemy is an undisciplined crew led to the brink of mutiny by their sectional hatreds.

Beset by treachery and betrayal, in danger of losing his command and his ship, Biddlecomb must find a way to unite his men against a cruel and common foe, as the Royal Navy prepares to sink the Charlemagne-and the revolution-under the merciless blasts of its guns.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

At the outset, the final installment in Nelson's Revolution at Sea trilogy (after The Maddest Idea) seems to chart a steady course through the standard formulaic historical romance, with dashing swashbucklers, satin-skinned ingenues, crusty old sea dogs and a heinous villain belowdecks. Once on the open seas, however, Nelson proves again to be an able novelist who handles deftly the conventions of the O'Brien-dominated maritime genre and writes characters who burst out of their stereotypes. Isaac Biddlecomb, now captain of the converted merchantman Charlemagne, a newly commissioned brig-of-war in the Continental Navy of 1776, is being pursued by his archenemy, HMS Glasgow. Through a series of clever yachting maneuvers, Biddlecomb eludes the larger enemy ship, impresses the love of his life, Virginia Stanton, daughter of his old mentor, and makes himself a hero. After a brief and somewhat tedious stay on shore, though, during which the reader is treated to cameos of Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers, the captain and his ship join the fledgling Continental fleet and the salt breeze invigorates Nelson's tale as his hero sails through various adventures in the Bahamas. Nelson's capacious knowledge of sailing and period maritime practices informs the book on every page and very nearly clutters the story with too much seamanship. But his rounded characters, tense action and battle sequences will certainly please fans of historical fiction. Editor, Tris Coburn; agent, Nat Sobel. (Aug.)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178028735
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/26/2022
Series:	The Revolution at Sea Series , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged

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