The Tide of War (Nathan Peake Trilogy 2) [Paperback]

The opening of Tide of War, set immediately after the conclusion of The Time of Terror, finds Nathan Peake recuperating at his father's estate in Sussex. After two years of serving "undercover" in Paris while posing as an American merchant captain, he is weary and grief-stricken. A summons to the Admiralty provides just the tonic he needs. Peake is made post and is to take command of a frigate, the Unicorn.

The Unicorn, alas, was last seen in Havana, where she reported that her captain was missing, as was her cutter with a full complement of sailors. Peake is thrown into the complex and turbulent world of the the Caribbean at the end of the 18th Century. England, France and Spain are vying for control of sugar and coffee production; slaves, inspired by the French revolution, are moved to revolt in Sainte Domingue and Cuba; the United States' citizens are pushing westward into Spanish territory; the French have designs on Louisiana; the Spanish, nominally allies with England, are divided between supporting the heretical English and the atheistic French; deserters, mutineers and runaway slaves are turning to piracy. And it's hurricane season.

Peake's mission is to destroy the French frigate Virginie (better armed and manned than the Unicorn), retrieve the Unicorn's cutter and protect Britain's interests. He is advised by the slippery and mysterious American, Gilbert Imlay, an actual historical personage. Imlay worked for each of the four nations, probably playing double or triple games, and no one knows where his true loyalties fell. His behavior often embarrasses Peake and sometimes endangers the mission.

Peake is beset by doubts and self-recrimination as he faces officers who question his decisions, and a sullen crew that has been flogged into submission by the previous captain. Nevertheless, he doesn't shy away from a fight and we find him battling pirates, the French, and mutineers at sea as well as in the bayous of Louisiana and on the south coast of Cuba. The action is well-narrated and compelling. Hunter keeps you turning the pages!

Seth Hunter's passion for history, especially the history of the various settings for the story, leaves the reader with a vivid sense of place and time, whether it be an estate on the Sussex coast, London, Havana or New Orleans. Hunter clearly takes delight in the details of history and shares his pleasure in a way that never crosses the line into pedantry. As in the first book, we are treated to cameo appearances by some of the celebrities of the time. I look forward to the third volume, The Price of Glory, due for release in July, 2010.

There is a French frigate causing trouble in the Caribbean. The British have a frigate there too, but she has lost her captain in decidedly strange circumstances. Newly promoted Nathan Peake is sent to take command, unravel the mystery of what happened to his predecessor, and of course eliminate the French ship.

The first third of the book is background. It takes forever to actually reach the Caribbean but things pick up as soon as we arrive, although the emphasis is on character rather than action. There are lots of coincidences and Peake makes some decidedly dodgy decisions. Mr Hunter has a wonderful knack of painting interesting characters but unfortunately their main effect is to make the hero seem pallid in comparison. Still, there is a lot of tension and a good air of mystery, and I wanted to know how it all ended.

The turmoil in the Caribbean and Mississippi delta is a little-publicised period in the Napoleonic wars, overshadowed by events in Europe, but it's where Nelson made his name and when the French and Spanish decline in central America began.

Nathan Peake, recovering after a 2-year 'spying' mission in France during the Revolution & Terror, gets a new commission and promotion - but his new command is in the Caribbean, masterless and mutinous. He ships to Cuba and meets up again with the duplicitous Imlay, who is still manipulating events to his advantage. Nathan is caught up in the web of intrigue and spends an inordinate amount of time getting his act together, while dissent, mutiny, insurrection and rebellion are all around.
Having just read another book based on the same period, this is head and shoulders above it: taught writing, deep research, great action sequences (although few) and wry, dry humour combined with detailed & understandable ship-handling evolutions.
We see parallels with O'Brien in his servant Gabriel (Killick) and the surgeon McLeish (Maturin) and in Nathan himself who (like Aubrey) finds himself 'at sea' on land, making some dubious decisions, but is completely in command on deck, turning impending defeat into glorious victory - but at a cost.
A quirky turn in the very last pages sets the scene for the next book in the series.

This filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the war in the Caribbean and its causes - a great read! ****