Relentless Pursuit: The Richard Bolitho Novels (Volume 25) [Hardcover]

Alexander Kent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2002 | Series: Richard Bolitho Novels (Book 25)

September 1815. Isolated in grief, Asam Bolitho has no choice. Preoccupied with avenging his uncle's death but following orders, he must sail the 46-gun frigate Unrivalled to Sierra Leone to aid His Majesty's campaign against slave-runners. But confronting an ill-fitted fleet, an entrenched adversary, and the aggressive opposition of the Algerian overlord, he may be setting his crew on a course of doom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kent. . . makes these adventures the closest thing to C S Forester coming off the presses." -- The New York Times Book Review

"No disappointment. . . . One could not ask for a better companion than this latest gem from a master story teller." -- Maritime Life and Traditions

One of the foremost writers of naval fiction. -- Sunday Times of London

From the Publisher

Alexander Kent is the pseudonym of Douglas Edward Reeman. Reeman joined the British Navy at 16, serving on destroyers and small craft during World War II and eventually rising to lieutenant. He later worked as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division of the London Metropolitan Police and as a children`s welfare officer. He has taught navigation to yachtsmen and served as a script adviser for television and films. He travels extensively, scouting locations for his books. His interests include sailing, cruising, exploring beaches, and bird watching. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and has served as president of the British Sailors Society. The Alexander Kent `Richard Bolitho` series now numbers 24 volumes. Reeman has also written over a score of books under his own name, including both fiction and non-fiction accounts of World War II naval warfare.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Mcbooks Press; First Edition edition (June 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590130006
• ISBN-13: 978-1590130001
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Royal Navy and a Quasi Peace, February 26, 2002

By 

Paul Sayles (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Relentless Pursuit: The Richard Bolitho Novels (Volume 25) (Hardcover)

Alexander Kent is now depicting the Royal Navy without a defined enemy and the impact this is having on it. Without a belligerent France across the Channel, the strength of the navy is slashed to the bone and beyond.

Adam Bolitho is still in command of the frigate Unrivalled only now is dealing with ships packed to overflowing with Africans en-route to slavery and with North African pirates. Neither of these opponents are giving much concern to politicians and merchant bankers of Great Britain, except in so far as they are accumulating wealth from the transport and auction of slaves. The man in the street knows little about this and cares less.

It is this apathy of the public that the Royal Navy in general and Adam in particular must battle. It might be easy to die for your country when the enemy is French or Spanish, but when it is a slave runner, the concept becomes a little vague. Fighting in the Bay of Biscay is one thing, fighting in the Bight of Benin is something else entirely.

Kent creates the atmosphere of these times with great care. You are faced with seamen, tossed onto the beach without thought, after being through tremendous hardship and danger. You are also faced with the families that they had left behind and now must support in some form or fashion. Also, there is the aristocracy, both of society and the Royal Navy that must be maintained. These features never go away. One would think that the needs of the Naval aristocracy would decrease as the Navy shrinks - far from it!

Adam Bolitho is a complex man and as I learn more about him, I can see this. From a bastard orphan to a successful naval officer, we have seem him evolve. Yet he is still dogged by his origins - he has never forgotten the days as a youngster fending for himself as his mother became unable to care and support him.

This is a book without the flash and thunder of a fleet action. Now it is a series of actions between schooners and sloops and oared launches. Adam's ship is too big and powerful to be of decisive value except as a resevoir from which to draw men to man the smaller ships. It is this type of action that is honing the skills of the men of Unrivalled and preparing them for the ultimate combat with African pirates.

Throughout the book, we are reintroduced to charecters of the past, Thomas Herrick, Daniel Yovel, Graeme Bethune and others. We see an appearance by Richard's daughter Elizabeth as she starts to connect to Adam for after all, in spite of birth situation, he is her closest surviving relative and vice versa.

This book is a continuation of the Bolitho family saga. It continues to add to what we know of the family, even if it is only in small details, such as the name of Adam's mother. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and a fine addition to my library. I would recommend it to anyone who has read even a few of the preceeding books on the Bolitho family.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bring Richard back, Mr. Kent!, December 24, 2001

By 

Judith Tarrant (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Relentless Pursuit: The Richard Bolitho Novels (Volume 25) (Hardcover)

This novel is tagged as a Richard Bolitho novel. It's not. Mr. Kent chose to kill Richard Bolitho off two novels ago and left us with his whining nephew, Adam, who annoyed me from the very beginning. I'd been reading of Richard's many and varied adventures for 25 years and Mr. Kent kills him off in one paragraph!? How did faithful, loyal Allday feel? Who knows? Mr. Kent chose to totally disregard his friendship with Richard. I was so disgusted I donated the book to my local library. Adam is a whiner. The women in Kent's latest novels have the men wrapped around their little fingers. Geez! Where's the fabulous comraderie of the earlier novels, the triumphant battles and the agony of defeat? Also, he killed off most of the wonderful characters I so enjoyed (thank goodness dear Allday was spared, the *only* character left I can empathize with). So no. I will not read another Adam novel.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Another Bolitho, August 18, 2003

By 

tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Relentless Pursuit (The Bolitho Novels) (Paperback)

Since Peace has broken out following the final defeat of Napoleon, the British Navy is on short rations. Nevertheless, Capt. Adam Bolitho is somehow kept on to continue his seaborne adventures begun in the previous volume, #24 Second to None. Before confronting the Dey again, he is assigned to the anti-slave patrols off Africa, and also encounters serious trouble while sailing as a courier for the Admiralty.

This is the second novel in this Napleonic Wars series to focus exclusively on Adam Bolitho, Adm. Richard's nephew. Adam is not a genius of tactics or leadership like his mentor. Actually, although Richard is gone, Adam and the other characters spend quite a bit fondly moping about him while they go sailing back and forth. Author Kent waxes nostalgic and layers this novel with extended sentimentality about Richard, We Happy Few, Catherine, Herrick, etc. etc. Naval action is relatively perfunctory relative either to the early books or the sentimental involvements here of Adam with his crew of faithfuls, and with another beautiful but troubled damsel. In other words, this book is strictly for people who've read all the others and are willing to reminisce about their leading characters, many of whom make cameo appearances here.