Customer Reviews

Lieutenant Christopher

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C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian have set a high bar for novels set in the "Age of Fighting Sail." Some authors such as Alexander Kent or James Nelson meet or get close to that bar. Unfortunately, William Mack does not. To be fair, I must admit that I have not read his series of novels set on a World War Two destroyer, so I can't say if this book is any better or worse. I can say that it suffers from rather flat characters, a lack of that descriptive "color" that makes the reader feel a participant in some grand historic event, and dialogue that sounds far too modern. The last is particularly jarring : one bit of dialogue refers to "kicking their butt"; another refers to English as "Brits," a twentieth-century term. At one point a character refers to "Texans." In 1777? Wasn't it called "Tejas" then? Recommended for real Fighting Sail enthusiasts only.

This novel has so many flaws that it is impossible to list them all. However, the first page should have enough to deter any serious reader of sailing fiction or the American Revolution: Congress issuing letters of marque in March 1775, which is a month before the Battle of Lexington in April 1775 (see any history). A forty ton ship carrying sixteen 9-pounders,which should more appropriately be four or six 6-pounders maximum (see Chapelle, Millar, Eller, etc.). French influence on small ship design, which is questionable at best and only possibly applicable to Frigate design (see Chapelle).

Moreover, the numerous contemporary slang used in the novel were rediculous. I've read the fiction of Marryat, Styles, Forester, Kent (Reeman), Pope, O'Brian, Parkinson, Woodman, Hoyt, Llewellyn, Lambdin, Nelson, Cooper and others. All were able to accurately depict the times and moods of the period, so greatly so and some only moderately so. However, Lieutenant Christopher by Mack is a horrible failure and doesn't come close. I've destroyed my copy of the novel so that it doesn't fall into the hands of any unsuspecting reader.

Mack's first novel about the Continental Navy is fast-paced and fun to read. The Christopher family of shipwrights on the Chesapeake Bay is believeable and skillfully portrayed. When father and son go privateering against the British, you are right on board with them, and when the son volunteers to serve under the legendary Captain John Paul Jones the patriots' cause comes alive. The author's description of shipbuilding supports this salty tale and is full of interesting information about America's first Navy.