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Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars
 
 
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Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars [Paperback]

Jay Worrall (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 13, 2007
With the stunning high-seas adventure Sails on the Horizon, Jay Worrall introduced a bold new hero in the rousing tradition of Jack Aubrey: Charles Edgemont, an ambitious officer in His Britannic Majesty’s navy. Raised to the rank of captain for gallantry under fire, Edgemont proved his mettle in the bruising British victory over the Spanish fleet at the Battle of St. Vincent. Now married and in command of the twenty-eight-gun frigate Louisa, the young captain sails toward a day of destiny–for himself and for England.
The year is 1798. The war between England and revolutionary France has reached a bloody stalemate, with England in the ascendancy at sea and France unchallenged on the Continent, thanks in large part to an unorthodox twenty-eight-year-old general named Napoleon Bonaparte. But the French, secretly amassing a powerful fleet, mean to break the impasse.
When rumors of the French preparations leak, the Admiralty dispatches a squadron of seven ships–among them the Louisa–under the command of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson to investigate. Blindsided by a storm of ferocious intensity, the ships scatter across the seas.
After the storm subsides, the damaged frigates limp back to the rendezvous point. But there is no sign of Nelson’s flagship, Vanguard, nor of two other ships of the line. Edgemont fears that the pugnacious rear admiral has pressed on with the mission.
Putting his career on the line by disobeying direct orders, Edgemont sets out in pursuit of Nelson and the French fleet on a treacherous voyage along the Tuscan coast. As tensions among the crew threaten to explode into open insubordination or worse, Edgemont makes an unexpected discovery in Naples that may seriously compromise his mission.
When the missing French fleet turns up off the shores of Egypt, conveying an army tens of thousands strong, Edgemont is suddenly thrown into a crisis of conscience. As circumstances grow dire and require heroic action, the fate of the crucial battle effectively lies in Edgemont’s hands–as does the course of history.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Worrall brings dashing British naval Capt. Charles Edgemont back in this clever sequel to Sails on the Horizon. This time out, Edgemont joins rear admiral Horatio Nelson's squadron in the Mediterranean to search for a French fleet up to no good. When a storm scatters the squadron, Edgemont sails his frigate, Louisa, in search of Nelson—a search that becomes even more crucial when he learns the location of the French fleet at Alexandria, Egypt, from an English spy. After a series of adventures and misadventures, Edgemont finally stumbles on Nelson, and the squadron sails to Alexandria where it engages the French fleet in one of history's great naval battles—the Battle of the Nile. Worrall is well-versed in nautical history and writes with scrupulous authenticity without confusing the novice (despite the occasional "Haul the reef cringle"). The arrival on board of Edgemont's new wife, Penny, an independent and headstrong Quaker, gives Worrall an opportunity to have some fun as Penny attempts, as she says to Edgemont, to "manage thy properties." Combining engaging characters, witty dialogue and rousing action, Worrall's nautical series continues its promising start. (On sale Apr. 18)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Worrall serves up a suitably salty tale featuring Napoleonic-era naval captain Charles Edgemont, the hero of Sails on the Horizon (2005). This time around, Edgemont is part of Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet, patrolling the Mediterranean. When a storm blows the fleet off course, wreaking havoc on the individual ships, Edgemont and the stalwart crew of the Louisa are determined to locate the missing Nelson. The military action culminates at Alexandria, Egypt, where Nelson and company engage the French fleet in the legendary Battle of the Nile. The author works in an intriguing personal angle when Edgemont's new pacifist Quaker wife, Penelope, joins her husband on board. Fans of the late, great Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series will relish this historically faithful seafaring adventure. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (February 13, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345476492
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345476494
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book by Dad since the other one, May 5, 2006
By 
John Worrall (Foster City, CA) - See all my reviews
Once again, Worrall has shocked the literary community, including (but likely not limited to) his own children, who, in a bizarre example of a phenomenon known as role-reversal multiplicity, were convinced that their father would never amount to anything twice.

In Any Approaching Sequel, the leading characters are forced to contend with their contrasting (or at least significantly different) value systems while trying to survive the rigors of life at sea (large boats, crusty sailors, no TiVo, the French).

Without giving away too much plot, it's safe to say that the reader (that's you, right?) will be able to comfortably enjoy reading a novel in the genre they love (just like in Sails on the Horizon, you actually feel like you're at sea while you read the book, especially if you read in the pool) while experiencing a plot that C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian have not penned themselves.

If you enjoyed Sails on the Horizon, you should buy this book. If you have not yet enjoyed Sails on the Horizon, the best plan is to buy both books (better odds). If you didn't like Sails on the Horizon... well, you probably bought one from a bad batch, so the best plan is to keep trying until you get a copy that works for you. Also, you probably aren't reading this review.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Wit, adventure and nautical detail - O'Brian fans rejoice!, May 15, 2006
With a nod to Patrick O'Brian - Jack Aubrey even makes a cameo appearance - Jay Worrall's second Charles Edgemont novel combines rousing adventure on the high seas with historical detail, ethical conflict and romance.

It's 1798 and, though only in his mid-twenties, Charles is captain of his own 28-gun Frigate, "Louisa." The war with France is deadlocked, with France's maverick young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, winning on land, and Britain controlling the seas. But Napoleon conceives of a plan to upset the balance by amassing a large French fleet to invade Egypt by sea, and then move his force into India to attack British possessions there.

As the story opens, Admiral Horatio Nelson's small squadron of seven ships (one of which is Charles' "Louisa") in the Mediterranean has just gotten wind of the French build-up and received orders to investigate the French naval base at Toulon. But before they can get underway, a horrific three-day storm (which Charles spots before anyone else) scatters the ships. While a rendezvous had been agreed in case of just such an eventuality, the anxious Nelson has not waited.

The badly damaged senior of the frigates at the rendezvous decides that Nelson has returned to Gibraltar and orders the rest of the squadron to follow suit. But Charles and the other captains convince him to let the "Louisa" check in at Toulon first before meeting up at Gibraltar.

Nelson is not at Toulon, but Charles does not follow his orders and return to Gibraltar. Instead he follows the rumors and goes looking for Nelson and the French, spending several months avidly wandering the seas and coasts and getting into plenty of excitement along the way - not all of it military.

Worrall employs an ingenious and brazen (if not wholly believable) stratagem to get Charles and his strong-willed Quaker wife Penny together without losing any sea time. Worrall, brought up Quaker in a military family, also seizes this opportunity to explore battle ethics (an oxymoron?), and the captain's conflict between his duty to his country and keeping his wife safe. Penny must come to grips between her pacifist beliefs and loyalty to her husband.

Worrall's portrayals of both sail close to the wind of stereotype but manage to avoid running aground. Charles, the forefront of his mind occupied by seamanship and military strategy, accepts without question his age's view on women. Penny, educated and capable, strives to persuade and educate without spurning 18th century (but progressively Quaker) standards of wifely position.

It will be no surprise that Charles eventually manages to find Nelson and the French and play a crucial role in the historic Battle of the Nile.

Worrall's first in the series, "Sails on the Horizon," established him as a talented writer as engaged with the structure and character of daily shipboard life as he is with the moments of crisis and war. Charles comes across as a brave confident, expert seaman with just enough moral compass to be interesting. His primary weakness is a reluctance to deal with personal conflict, which leads him into virtually his only errors as captain. The prose is witty, salty and engaging and the bouts of action - weather or battle - are as breathless as they are vivid. Those who enjoyed the young captain's first appearance will find this adventure even better and Charles' physical daring and moral complexity should attract a growing fan base.

--Portsmouth Herald
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a historically recognizable Quaker character!, May 7, 2006
I don't know a lot about naval history, but I do know Quaker history, and I'm so tired of seeing Quakers--especially women--depicted as meek and retiring, which was so much not the case! They travelled the world, unaccompanied by men, raising all sorts of ruckus. So I hugely enjoyed watching Captain Charles Edgemont's reaction to having his wife (not a Quaker himself, he had no idea what he was getting into when he married her!) appear on the scene, accompanied by Molly, the former prostitute she redeemed and took under her wing in the first book of the series. Poor Charles has no idea what he's gotten himself into, and of course there is the small matter of French warships to be dealt with as well!

In "Persuasion," Jane Austen, whose brothers were in the British Navy during the same period in which this novel is set, created a very likable admiral's wife who had lived aboard with her husband, but even the lively Mrs. Croft was no Penelope Brown Edgemont.

I enjoyed Worrall's earlier book, "Sails on the Horizon," but this sequel is edgier and more suspenseful. In addition to figuring out what to do with his wife, Edgemont is saddled with a rebellious first lieutenant. His previous first officer, Bevan, now has his own ship, but there are regular opportunities to continue their witty repartee. And the final, exciting battle scene, resolves a mystery of the Napoleonic Wars that even I had heard about.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mast sections, weather rail
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Daniel Bevan, Admiral Nelson, Captain Edgemont, Jacob Talmage, Lieutenant Talmage, Stephen Winchester, Sir William, Midshipman Sykes, Admiral St Vincent, Sergeant Cooley, Cape Sega, Captain Pigott, Lieutenant Winchester, Capitaine Baptiste, Instant Death, Timothy Attwater, Lady Hamilton, Lord St Vincent, Commander Bevan, William Hamilton, Horatio Nelson, Aboukir Bay, Captain Bevan, Miss Bridges, Samuel Eliot
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