Havoc's Sword: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure [Paperback]

Dewey Lambdin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2004

Dewey Lambdin's lovable but incorrigible rogue, Captain Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, is back to cut a wide and wicked swatch through the war-torn Caribbean in an entirely new high seas adventure.

It's 1798, and Lewrie and his crew of the Proteus frigate have their work cut out for them. First, he has rashly vowed to uphold a friend's honour in a duel to the death. Second, he faces the horridly unwelcome arrival of HM Government's Foreign Office agents (out to use him as their cat's-paw in impossibly vaunting schemes against the French). And last, he must engineer the showdown with his arch foe and nemesis, the hideous ogre of the French Revolution's Terror, that clever fiend Guillaume Choundas!

We know Lewrie can fight, but can he be a diplomat, too? He must deal with the newly reborn United States Navy, that uneasy, unofficial "ally", and the stunning, life-altering surprise they bring. For good or ill, Lewrie's in the "quag" up to his neck, this time. Can sword, pistol, and broadsides avail, or will words, low cunning, and Lewrie's irrepressible wit be the key to his victory and survival, as even the seas cry "Havoc"?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this solid seafaring historical, the 11th in Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series, British Royal Navy Captain Lewrie is tasked with hounding his longtime nemesis, the brutal and cunning French commander Guillaume Choudas. Choudas has been sent to sow discord on the French Caribbean island of Hispaniola, where Toussaint L'Ouverture holds the reins of power after a slave rebellion in 1791. The British have a cockeyed scheme to back L'Ouverture's rival-in-arms, General Rigaud, against the rebellion's leader. Though opposed to the plan, Lewrie is under orders to support it. After harassing the French on his own, and killing one of Choudas's best captains, Lewrie covertly teams up with the newly minted American navy and lures the French Caribbean fleet into a trap. The American navy proves its mettle, badly mauling the French, and, after Lewrie has tricked Choudas once again with false information, the Americans capture the Frenchman. Lewrie and his Foreign Office spy compatriot, the highly competent Peel, go over the head of insipid regional spymaster Grenville Pelham to suggest further alliance with the Americans as a means toward British dominance of the Caribbean and Atlantic. Lambdin's villains are invariably either monsters or weasels, and Lewrie is never believably threatened by them, so there isn't much tension. But Lambdin's customary good humor, well-wrought naval battles and use of every ruse de guerre in the book provide enough moment-to-moment pleasure to keep this long-running adventure series afloat.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Lambdin continues his rousing series of nautical adventures featuring the stalwart Captain Alan Lewrie of the Royal Navy. This time around, Lewrie and the crew of the HMS Proteus set sail for the balmy islands of the Caribbean, where a surfeit of intrigue and action awaits them. In addition to providing strategic cover for government agents attempting to wrest the colony of Saint Domingue away from the French, the intrepid captain must confront his archenemy, the horribly disfigured Guillaume Choundas. Other plot complications include the usual round of infidelities and marital problems for the relentlessly roving Lewrie. Once again, Lambdin manages to interweave several complex story lines into a suitably knotty naval yarn that will appeal to fans of historical maritime fiction. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312315481
• ISBN-13: 978-0312315481
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dewey Lambdin is the author of fourteen previous Alan Lewrie novels. A member of the U.S. Naval Institute and a Friend of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, he spends his free time working and sailing (he's been a sailor since 1976). He makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, but would much prefer Margaritaville or Murrell's Inlet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real hero, September 1, 2004

By 

Matthew S. Jacobs (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Havoc's Sword: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

I have read Hornblower, Bolitho, Aubrey, Ramage, and Drinkwater. Only Cornwell's Sharpe comes close to being as real of a person as Lewrie. I'm not rich, I'm no English gentleman, and I have no idea what it's like to have everything go my way and make me a hero. Thus, fictional "heroes" like Lewrie appeal to me. He screws up, regularly, he makes mistake after mistake, and he tends to hang himself over and over - I can relate to that. After reading about two of the books, I found myself thinking along the same lines as Lewrie, smacking myself in the head for my thoughts and decisions (like Lewrie), and mouthing off to the adversarial characters like Lewrie. It's not predictability, it's relating to the character. Additionally, Dewey Lambdin is a fantastic guy. He lives in Nashville, enjoys a beer, and responds to fan mail on a regular old-fashioned typewriter. What more can you ask? No hoity-toity author, no hoity-toity hero, and no hoity-toity, too-good-to-be-true stories.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Alan Lewrie Novel to date from Dewey Lambdin, August 3, 2004

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Havoc's Sword: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

Although Dewey Lambdin will never surpass the late Patrick O'Brian for literary quality, he does approach the latter's high standards, in this, the latest installment in the Alan Lewrie naval series. Here Captain Lewrie must contend again with his French nemesis Guillaume Choundas, mired in political intrigue which will affect both Great Britain and the United States. Lewrie must contend with two British government spies and become uneasy allies with American naval officers, uniting briefly to deal with Capitaine Choundas. Lambdin offers a realistic view as to what life must have been like aboard a Royal Navy frigate at the turn of the 18th Century, coupled with his good humor and wit. This is a fine addition to the Alan Lewrie series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars setting the stage...stand by, January 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Havoc's Sword: An Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Hardcover)

While this latest adventure doesn't have the punch of some of the earlier novels it does set the stage for Alan Lewrie's followers to have some interesting reading in the future. Very solid in maintaining Lambdin's grasp of the nautical aspects...although I will say that Soft Rabbit's son making an appearance is a bit of a stretch.