Customer Reviews

Sea Change

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This is really one for the history buffs. In 1721 in the reign of George 1, the infamous South Sea Bubble scandal rocked England and some of Europe, proving that greed and corruption, in the form of speculative share market swindling, is not a new thing. A penniless map maker is drawn into a web of intrigue by reason of having his debts paid out and being forced to travel to Holland as the unwitting dupe of one of the main players in the South Sea Bubble scandal. He is falsely accused of murder and is forced to search for and to produce to his English masters, a green book, listing the names of VERY prominent people, from the King down to cabinet ministers, who were paid enormous bribes to take part in the hoax which robbed thousands of small investors, but made the rich men richer (sound familiar?) This book was very reminiscent of the works of Dennis Wheatley who wrote books involving the aristocracy, political intrigues, murder and travel through Europe.

Mr Goddard's novel begins in January 1721. Sir Theodore Janssen, once a financier of legendary acumen, stands on the brink of ruin after the bankruptcy of the South Sea Company.
William Spandrel is also a financial victim of the commercial disaster of the South Sea Company, though on a smaller scale than Sir Theodore. Still, Spandrel owes Sir Theodore a fair amount of money. One day, Spandrel is summoned to go and see Sir Theodore. He offers Spandrel to pay back his debts by acting as his personal courier in a confidential transaction. Spandrel is to deliver a box to Mijnheer Ysbrand de Vried at his home in Amsterdam. As Spandrel departs from Deptford for Holvoetsluys on the "Vixen", he can't possibly foresee on what a roller coaster journey he has embarked.
As always, Mr Goddard's novel provides first class entertainment with a very well documented historical adventure story. And Paul Shelly reading "Sea Change" is quite an experience to listen to!

"Sea Change" is an entertaining, fast-paced, complex story in which the main character becomes a pawn who is manipulated by lies and deceptions. In 1721, England is in financial trouble due to the collapse of the South Sea Bubble, which began when the government's unfunded war debts were converted into shares of a new South Sea Company. When the shares rose in value and then crashed, a financial crisis occurred that seems familiar to us today.

One of the victims of the crisis, William Spandrel, a mapmaker who is now deeply in debt, is summoned to the home of Sir Theodore Janssen, a director of the South Sea Company. Janssen offers to pay off Spandrel's debts if he will deliver a package to his friend Ysbrand de Vries in Amsterdam. Spandrel delivers the package, but is later arrested for de Vries's murder. When Spandrel learns that de Vries's wife, Estelle, and his secretary, Zuyler, have run off together and that the package is missing, he realizes that he has been set up. After he manages to escape, Spandrel is determined to clear his name and he pursues Estelle and Zuyler in a fast-paced chase across Europe. As he tries to catch them, he also has to contend with British agents who are trying to recover the package and its secrets. He meets with one deception after another and learns that no one can be trusted and that he must rely only on himself to survive.

The story has many characters, both real and fictional. Fortunately for the reader, Goddard includes an Appendix which contains a who's who of all the names. He also includes a useful glossary of 18th century terms that are mentioned in the story.

this book is a never ending race after a "Green Book" that can reveal some of the most darken secrets of the South Sea Company...

i was a bit dissaponting from reading it and was expecting another of Goddard's master pieces, but unfortunatly this book was very tiring and exhausting.