Dead Reckoning [Hardcover]

C.Northcote Parkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1978

Captain Richard Delancey heads for the East Indies on the 32-gun frigate Laura to take part in the capture of the Cape of Good Hope. His ingenious tactics gain the attention of his superiors, who recruit him for a high-stakes mission: to seek out and destroy the French privateer Subtile.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cyril Northcote Parkinson pursued a distinguished academic career on both sides of the Atlantic and first became famous for "Parkinson's Law"—work expands to fill the time allotted to it. Parkinson wrote many books on British politics and economics. His first fictional effort, a "biography" of Horatio Hornblower, met with considerable acclaim and led to the Delancey series. C. Northcote Parkinson died in 1993.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd (July 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719534844
• ISBN-13: 978-0719534843
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,736,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DeLancey survives fever ports, pirates, and battles, January 20, 2002

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Reckoning (Hardcover)

The year is 1805 and England is at war. At the end of the last novel, "Touch and Go," Richard DeLancey was a commander returning home to England as a peace treaty was signed. This novel (copyright 1978) finds DeLancey married to Fiona, a former actress. He has just been brought back onto active service, promoted to captain, and been given the older 32-gun frigate Laura for service at the Cape, in the Far East, and in the Indian Ocean. He must part from his young wife for an unknown period of time.

He has the usual assignments, including convoy escort, and is given a special assignment to chase down a French privateer. He also seeks his long-lost brother. He has exploits in escorting a convoy of East Indiamen attacked by French ships, and participating in the capture of Mauritius (repeated to some extent by the fictional James Aubrey in later novels written by Patrick O'Brien). After taking command of a different frigate, DeLancey finds a creative way to bring the ship's crew up to full strength (losses from disease and battles had been high). He then wins honors for himself and his crew in a final confrontation with the French.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Apologies, November 30, 2006

By 

Matthew S. Jacobs (Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Reckoning (The Richard Delancey Novels) (Volume 6) (Paperback)

I hate to write a bad review. However, I want to spare the potential buyer of a waste of his/her money.

I love these types of stories, and I have all of the Forester, O'Brian, Kent, Lambdin, etc. novels. I bought this whole series, simply assuming that I would like it. Unfortunately, I could barely force myself to finish the first one. Yet, I thought that the series and writing might grow in the later volumes, so I persevered. I was wrong. The second and third ones were just as bad, and I just can't force myself to read them anymore.

God bless Mr. Parkinson, I'm sure he was a wonderful man and he can surely write better than I can, but his fiction writing is horrible. One reviewer of an early volume called it "wooden," and that's what his writing is. There's no depth to the stories or the characters - there's no excitement. Mr. Parkinson wrote many books on business management, and his novels, sadly, read like one of those books.

Again, I'm sorry to write a bad review, but please do yourself a favor and find one of these at a library before you shell out your money for the series.

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Reconing, March 4, 2010

By 

John Burnett "Hooked on Royal Naval yarns" (Madison, AL, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Reckoning (The Richard Delancey Novels) (Volume 6) (Paperback)

This author ranks with the best of the Napoleonic sea war authors. As good as any of them out there. need to read this series from the start as each book uses its predessessor for its basis