The King's Privateer (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) [Mass Market Paperback]

Dewey Lambdin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures | Publication Date: June 30, 1996

1783: His Majesty's secret agent

Fresh from war in the Americas, young navy veteran Alan Lewrie finds London pure pleasure. Then, at Plymouth he boards the trading ship Telesto, to find out why merchantmen are disappearing in the East Indies. Between the pungent shores of Calcutta and teaming Canton, Lewrie--reunited with his scoundrel father--discovers a young French captain, backed by an armada of Mindanaon pirates, on a plundering rampage. While treaties tie the navy's hands, a King's privateer is free to plunge into the fire and blood of a dirty little war on the high South China Sea.

Ladies' man, officer, and rogue, Alan Lewrie is the ultimate man of adventure. In the worthy tradition of Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin, his exploits echo with the sounds of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare.

Praise for the Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie

"The best naval series since C. S. Forrester . . . Recommended."

--Library Journal

"Plenty of action . . . Fast-paced, graphically descriptive, and well plotted."

--The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star

"

Fast-moving . . . A hugely likable hero, a huge cast of sharply drawn supporting characters: there's nothing missing. Wonderful stuff."

--Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this fourth book of the series begun with The King's Coat ( LJ 5/1/89), Lieutenant Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, continues his adventures in the Far East. Assigned to a ship disguised as a merchant vessel to check on French activities among local pirates, Alan finds plenty of action in Canton, Calcutta, and the islands of the South China Sea. He even runs into his hated father, Sir Hugo, but the two old enemies gain mutual respect as they are compelled to work together. Lambdin provides a well-rounded plot and fascinating, well-researched evocations of late 18th-century Oriental trade cities, but the graphic gore of the frequent battle scenes becomes increasingly unpleasant. More glory and romance, coupled with the already accurate descriptions of period tactics and weaponry, would go down better with readers of this genre than the welter of blood and guts. Recommended with this one reservation for public libraries.
- C. Robert Nixon, MLS, Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Lambdin's lusty Royal Naval Lieutenant Alan Lewrie (The King's Commission, 1991, etc.) sails for the East Indies, where French privateers have dared to tamper with the profits of Britain's opium trade. Having at last foiled his father's plot to disinherit him of his mother's fortune, Lt. Lewrie is in London and in the chips, furnishing a flat and enjoying the favors of at least three shameless London ladies while paying semi-serious court to his virtuous colonial girlfriend, Caroline Chiswick. But the life of ease and easy virtue ends abruptly with a call from the Admiralty. Alan's services are needed immediately. He's to join a secret, unofficial mission, sailing with the crew of Telesto, an armed merchantman bound for India, where the august East India Company has fallen victim to French privateering. It's actually not a bad time to leave town: the pretty little housemaid Alan's seduced has announced her pregnancy, and Caroline Chiswick seems unduly interested in matrimony. In India, Alan is reunited with the last man in the world he wants to see--his unspeakable cad of a father, Sir Hugo. But Sir Hugo has gone off the sauce, given up paternal treachery, and returned to soldiering, living the good life in a pocket palace complete with complaisant dancing girls. A reconciliation is effected, and father and son sail for Macao, Canton, the South China Sea, and a series of rousing battles on sea and land with thousands of fierce native pirates and their decadent French masters. Irresistible. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (June 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449224511
• ISBN-13: 978-0449224519
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure

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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is Lambdin getting tired of the series?, May 13, 2004

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The King's Privateer (Hardcover)

This fourth novel in the "Alan Lewrie" series is something of a departure, its heavily political (rather than simply naval) plot dictated by the end of the American Revolution in 1783. Lewrie finds himself back in London on a lieutenant's half-pay, subsisting comfortably (as long as he watches his expenses) and indulging his taste for sex with as many women as he can, of any age or marital status. But he's caught 'en flagrante' by an elderly husband -- once his patron, but no longer -- who wants his blood. Just as he's packing for his escape from the city, timely orders arrive from the Admiralty to report immediately to Plymouth, . . . and he's off on another adventure, this time as junior officer on a semi-secret mission to India and Canton, fighting Malay pirates who are in league with a French-backed privateer. The political leader of the mission, Mr. Twigg, is as bloody-minded a secret agent as you will find, perfectly willing to torture and murder surrendered prisoners to get the information he wants. Definitely not a nice person. And in India, Lewrie meets up again with his father, who had stolen from him, set him up with his supposed half-sister, had him essentially shanghaied into the navy, and then decamped to escape his creditors. But now we get the other side of his father's story and, while Sir Hugo retains nearly all his faults, he certainly becomes a more rounded character. Captain Choundas, on the other hand, is vicious, sexually perverted, and one-hundred-percent evil -- and since he survives the final fight with Lewrie, I would be very surprised if he did not return in future installments, probably as an agent of the French revolutionary government. Not as successful as the previous book, but I'll certainly keep reading -- though I hope the author will reduce his use of exclamation points!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GreatNaval action in the tradition of Hornblower and Bolitho, June 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The King's Privateer (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of a series wherein the author has created a hero to rival Hornblower, although there is a dash of George MacDonald Fraser thrown in. This is a wonderful discovery for those who enjoy the age of wooden ships and grand descriptions of topical settings and blazing cannons. The entire series is worth finding yet sadly the last word was that there were no more books planned in the series. If you are planning a vacation and want a good read to have along this would be an excellent choice

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of the best naval historical fiction written to date., December 25, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The King's Privateer (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures) (Mass Market Paperback)

Dewey Lambdin does an excellent job portraying the image of living and working a wooden sailing vessel as well as give a feeling for what it was like in the British navy of the late 1700s. Unlike other authors who use the British navy as a setting for a plot, the author evokes the feeling that you are part of the character and the story is happening to you. The protaganist is a normal young man who was kicked out of the house for being to hard a child to handle (supposedly). Part of the assocoation with the protaganist comes from the down to earth situations he gets himself into. Like any other young 'buck' in his late teens, early twenties, he doesn't always think with his head on his shoulders when he is looking for a good time. This is definately the series for you if you want an honest look at life in the King's navy with the attending comradere, boredom and technical details. It is not for those who feel that thinking/acting likea sex starved young man is unacceptable.

I suggest you start reading as early in the series as you can. Start with 'The King's Coat' (if available, it might be out of print), move on through 'The French Admiral', 'The King's Commission', 'The King's Privateer', 'The Gun Ketch' and 'HMS Cockrel'. 'For King and Country' is a trilogy that begins where the protaganist begins to settle down and contains 'The King's Commission', The King's Privateer' and 'The Gun Ketch'. It will be interesting to see how the author handles the young man coming of age. That telling of that kind of transition is what will really determine if the author is as good as he appears to be.