Globe Pequot / Sheridan House
Pages: 256
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-57409-078-9 • Paperback • July 1999 • $14.95 • (£11.95)
978-1-57409-329-2 • eBook • July 1999 • $13.99 • (£10.95)
A Private Revenge: Contents PART ONE: THE DAMOCLEAN SWORD The Typhoon 1 The Brig 2 New Orders 3 Whampoa 4 The Dragon's Roar 5 The Matter of Morale 6 The Concerns of a Convoy 7 Morris 8 Fair Winds and Foul Tempers 9 Infirmities of Character 10 A Small Victory 11 Blood and Rain PART TWO: NEMESIS 12 A Council of War 13 A Round Robin 14 The Winds of Fortune 15 The Bronze-bound Chests 16 Blow-pipe Creek 17 The Gates of the Fortress 18 Pursuit PART THREE: A PRIVATE REVENGE 19 The Tripod 20 A Forlorn Hope 21 A Private Revenge 22 Penang Author's Note
The ninth adventure of Capt. Nathaniel Drinkwater--but only the second ( In Distant Waters ) published here--places the middle-aged, phlegmatic skipper of H.M. frigate Patrician in the South China Sea in 1808 under secret Admiralty orders to thwart the new Franco-Russian alliance. Guiding ships of the East India Company (practically a power in itself) from Canton to Penang, he must be wary of pirates, the Hong in Canton, the emperor in Peking and a shipload of Russian prisoners. Drinkwater is duped into giving passage to his archenemy Morris, along with the man's fortune in silver and his catamite. The crafty Morris, his Navy career cut short by scandal, plots a private revenge that will ruin Drinkwater and may even let Morris have his heinous way with the Captain. The climax is a bang-up battle between Borneo's fierce Dyaks (of poison dart fame) and Patrician 's beleaguered crew. Drinkwater is a true-blue, if stolid, hero, but shipboard life, including its below-decks stink, is vividly drawn.
— Publishers Weekly
In this latest Nathaniel Drinkwater novel the intrepid captain commands his majesty's frigate Patrician on the China station after a cruise halfway around the world. As convoy commander for merchantmen sailing to Penang, Drinkwater deals with pirates, French and Dutch men-of-war, and an unexpected and threatening passenger from his past. Rich in detail, historically accurate, and displaying a masterly knowledge of the technical aspects of ships under sail, Woodman's novel is comparable to sea fiction by masters such as C.S. Forester and Alexander Kent in its evocation of the past age of wooden ships and iron men. Highly recommended for public libraries.
— Library Journal
In the aftermath of a typhoon, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater brings the HMS frigate PATRICIAN into the shelter of the Pearl River in China, to refit. He is unwittingly entangled in the bizarre events that followed the British occupation of Macao and the attack on the Canton. Well written and exciting.
— Latitudes & Attitudes