Jack Absolute [Hardcover]

C.C. Humphreys (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

A new historical adventure series starring the dashing Jack Absolute that has already been called "the finest historical novels since O'Brian." (Good Book Guide UK)

 

In 1777 Jack Absolute, the charming lover in Sheridan's comedy The Rivals, is famous throughout London. However, this notoriety comes as something of a shock to the real Jack Absolute when he arrives in England after four months at sea. But there's barely time for outrage before he finds himself dueling for his life. Even worse, as soon as he's won the duel he's forced to flee London by the quickest means possible, becoming a spy in America's war of Independence.

Thus we meet Jack Absolute - rogue, duellist, charmer and Captain in the Light Dragoons. From the field of honor in London through the pivotal battle of Saratoga to a hunt for a double agent in wintry Philadelphia, this novel marks the impressive debut of this new series.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A stage actor, novelist and playwright, Humphreys (The French Executioner) examines the American Revolution through the eyes of the inestimable Capt. Jack Absolute, an 18th-century 007 lifted from Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals, who has a "talent for trouble," a rogue's way with women and more lives than a cat. Although he expresses sympathy for the rebels' cause, Jack agrees under duress to serve as Gen. John Burgoyne's chief spy in America. As Burgoyne launches a campaign to capture Albany, N.Y. ("the heart of the country"), Jack and his Mohawk blood brother, Até, are dispatched to root out spies working for the Illuminati, a secret lodge within the Freemasons who hope to establish a utopia in the colonies. Jack hooks up with Louisa Reardon, a beautiful Loyalist traveling with Burgoyne's army, but they are captured and separated. Escaping his captors, Jack rushes back to join Burgoyne, but arrives too late to help prevent a humiliating British defeat. A dejected Burgoyne dispatches Jack to Philadelphia to warn British commanders of the hidden threat. There is more than one surprise in Philadelphia awaiting Jack and readers. Humphreys combines historical detail, a larger-than-life hero, clever plotting and fast pacing to craft a thoroughly entertaining historical adventure. (Oct.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—After a successful run in Britain, this first volume of Humphreys's "Revolutionary War" series of fast-paced adventure finally comes to the States. The title character is a fresh blending of Ian Fleming's James Bond and James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumpo, a man equally adept at hunting and Native American languages, along with more modern skills in code-breaking and espionage. During the pivotal Battle of Saratoga, England calls on retired Captain Absolute to use his contacts within the Mohawk tribes to convince the Native Americans to fight on the side of England. During his travels, he uncovers a secret organization known as the Illuminati that manipulates both sides of the conflict for its own dark purposes. Absolute seeks the identity of its ruler and leads readers through a series of red herrings filled with daring escapes and realistic battle scenes. Absolute holds the unusual point of view of sympathizing with the Colonial desires for freedom and liberty but still feeling the strong tugs of loyalty to the crown. The author does a solid job of using this character to illustrate the complex motivations on both sides of the war. Although full of intrigue and accurate historical detail, the novel is ultimately a straightforward adventure story that sends readers racing through the pages of Absolute's improbable but exciting captures, escapes, and fight scenes.—Matthew L. Moffett, Pohick Regional Library, Burke, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312358229
• ISBN-13: 978-0312358228
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,487,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack ain't Harry, but so what? He's an interesting fellow..., January 23, 2008

By 

H. S. Wedekind "Mr. Weekend" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jack Absolute (Paperback)

This was an entertaining first book of a trilogy concerning the adventures of Jack Absolute, British Army Captain and spy, during the Colonial Period in American History. One of the previous reviewers compared the character of Jack, taken from Sheridan's play THE RIVALS, with the bully Flashman of Hughes's novel TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS. Sir Harry Flashman, VC, is a scoundrel given an imagined life after being expelled from Rugby School by the late Scottish novelist George MacDonald Fraser. The only real comparison is that both Jack and Flashman are fictional British Army Officers from other works. Jack is basically a good person who finds himself unwittingly drafted by General John Burgoyne to spy on a sinister group of over-zealous Freemasons called The Illumintai who are stirring up the "American Rebels" against the Crown in 1777. Flashman, on the other hand, has no redeeming qualities and is an admitted bully, coward, liar, and shameless womanizer, among other things. His misadventures are also incredibly funny. To compare the two is unfair to C. C. Humphreys. He's his own man, like Jack, and a fine storyteller. I heartily recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!, July 17, 2007

By 

Lisa Jensen "Lisa" (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack Absolute (Hardcover)

In the kind of breakneck adventure for which the term "rollicking" was coined, C. C. Humphreys embroils his protagonist Captain Jack Absolute--onetime officer, full-time rake, and part-time spy--in a duel, a chase, witty repartee, sex backstage (and onstage) at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and guest appearances by General Burgoyne AND Richard Brinsley Sheridan. And that's just the first three chapters. In 1777, Jack and his Mohawk Indian blood brother Ate, ordered back to America to serve Britain in the fight against American independence, find themselves battling ferocious colonial militiamen, British incompetence, and their own doubts about which master they serve. The audacity with which Humphreys purloins a character out of Sheridan's classic stage comedy, The Rivals, for his own devices, is matched only by the skill with which he pull it off--with plenty of dash, wry cynicism, bloody action, and a surprisingly tender and gripping love story that sneaks in the back door and turns the entire enterprise on its ear. Bravo!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Above Average; 3.5 stars, February 4, 2007

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jack Absolute (Hardcover)

This is a cleverly constructed historical thriller, essentially a spy novel set in the 18th century. Humphreys, a former actor, has been clever in constructing the characters and plot. The hero, Jack Absolute, is the hero of Sheriden's The Rivals. This is certainly not the first time a figure from English literature has been pulled out to feature in a set of historical novels. George Macdonald Fraser used this device to considerable effect in his Flashman books, where he pulled a minor figure out of Tom Brown's Schooldays and made him into the hero of this set of satirical novels. As in the Flashman books, the hero's story is mixed in with significant real historical figures and events, in this case, the American Revolution. Competently written, Jack Absolute is fairly entertaining though Humphreys has perhaps made the plot too complicated.