I consider this my favourite of Cornwell's thrillers. The book is pacy and difficult to put down. There is excellent characterisation, vivid despecriptions of people and places, and while the nautical jargon may be hard for some it is not overbearing.

Johnny is a very likeable character, a carefree rebel who has disowned his family past and who engratiates himself with those his family despise. His relationship with his sister, Georgina, makes him all the more likeable as I see it. The book has a nice twist though the more often you read it you will notice the subtle hints throughout the text. It is a book I have read several times, however.

Lord John Rossendale was a protaganist in the Sharpe series. It is unclear whether the two characters are related but they may very well be. The family history implies such in my opinion. ( )

"Killer's Wake" by Bernard Cornwell is part of Mr. Cornwell's lesser known series of novels and is a nautical thriller. Whereas Mr. Cornwell's other books are wall-to-wall testosterone fueled vengeance, his thrillers are slightly less so, ever so slightly thankfully. However, revenge and settling scores are at the forefront of this novel and plexus punching sailing action is the reader's reward. And of course the novel is chock full of the exactness and care to the minutiae detail I've come to expect from Mr. Cornwell. Come my next visit to the bookstore, I will definitely be searching the stacks for another one of Mr. Cornwell's seaworthy thrillers. ( )