Stand into Danger [Hardcover]

Alexander Kent (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Hutchinson (1955)
• ASIN: B000M64ULW
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Irresistible, July 9, 2000

By 

Roger Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stand Into Danger (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 2) (Paperback)

This is the first Alexander Kent novel I have read (I skipped the first one because this one sounded a little better) and it was a very enjoyable read. I have read several other authors in this genre, and my favorite by far is Patrick O'Brian. None of the other authors I have read, including Kent, really even come close to O'Brian's brillant novels. I enjoyed this book, however, and I will definately read more of this series. Life in the royal navy is romanticized more in this novel than in the novels of Patrick O'Brian and Richard Woodman. For example, all of the Destiny's officers are completely top-notch professional men. In reality, a fairly high percentage of navel officers during this time were highly incompetent and owed their positions to the fact that they were born to a wealthy, influential family. The characters in this novel are not developed to any great degree except for Bolitho himself. In general, I suppose this novel is a little cheesy in many respects, but I got drawn into it and really enjoyed it none-the-less. The book's hero is very likable and seems very real; he's no superhero. The best thing about this book are the action scenes. There is a lot of action and it is very well described. We experience the fear and horror of battle through Bolitho's eyes and it comes across more powerfully than in any other sea novel I have read, including O'Brian's. The battle scenes in an O'Brian novel are exciting but they seem to be a little aloof; a little removed from the death and horror that the common seamen experienced. This is not the case with Kent. In sum, I would almost dub Kent's work "O'Brian lite", but his great battle scenes make his work a little more than that.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great naval fiction!, December 6, 2003

By 

Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stand Into Danger (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 2) (Paperback)

My family physician brought my attention, in the first place, to Patrick O'Brian's series of books about the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey of the British Navy in the days of wooden ships and iron men.

I was not new to naval fiction. I cut my teeth on Howard Pease's stories of the merchant marine, which inspired me, directly, to ship out at the age of 16 on an 8,000 ton freighter, in the "black gang," as a fireman. Subsequently, I joined the U.S. Navy on my 17th birthday and eventually I built my own ketch-rigged sailboat, the "Wild Goose," and sailed her on the Pacific with my family.

I am somewhat of a connoisseur of naval fiction, especially as it relates to sailing vessels. The late Patrick O'Brian was a master of the genre, and his details of square riggers sailing rig and of life aboard vessels of the late 18th century were unsurpassed. Many of his actions were taken directly from admiralty records.

Alexander Kent is more of a storyteller, and he does not depend so much on detail of the sailing rig. He is more interested in the story, and his stories are superb! He keeps you reading far into the night to see how it comes out. I would read the books through in one setting, if my schedule allowed. My doctor recommewnded this series, also.

Like O'Brian, Kent (a pseudonym) follows the career of a single extraordinary seaman, Richard Bolitho, from Midshipman on to command. Bolitho began his career at the age of twelve, although the series pick him up at 16, a seasoned midshipman, in the first book of the series (which I have reviewed) "Midshipman Bolitho," in which he is assigned to a 74 gun ship of the line, the Gorgon. "Stand into Danger" picks him up as a third lieutenant on the Destiny, a frigate.

There is plenty of action in both stories. I have the third book in the series, now, and have the fourth on order. That should tell how much I like the series.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue and Adventure in the West Indies in the 1770's, August 18, 1999

By 

Donal A. O'Neill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stand Into Danger (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 2) (Paperback)

Richard Bolitho, newly promoted to lieutenant comes close to death in this splendid yarn and he sustains the wound that leaves him with the scar on his forehead that he ever afterwards tries to hide by a lock of hair. We also learn how he first encounters his faithful coxwain Stockdale, displaying in the process the humanity and generosity that will characterise him in later life. The response of a young man to increasing responsibility, and to the aloof but careful guidance of a seasoned commander, is well conveyed in the story and with the assistance of a beautiful Portuguese Bolitho comes of age in more ways than one. Experience of a complex landing-operation on an island controlled by a renegade Royal Navy officer also yields experience that will stand him in good stead for future adventures. This was the first Bolitho story I read and it hooked me into tracking down all the others I could in the series. I have read them as far as possible in chronological order and this adds to the pleasure, as Kent handles Bolitho's maturing as a man and a commander skilfully and convincingly.