Stand Into Danger

Good old-fashioned British navy adventure, in the style of C. S. Forester. While I had a good time reading it, there was something that prevented me from enjoying it fully. The story is told in a rather disjointed manner. Instead of going from scene to scene seamlessly and letting the reader see the logical consequences of each action, we sometimes jump from scene to scene. The problem was not bad enough to make me despair, but it did dampen my enjoyment.

"The mist darkened and edged aside as the anchored ship loomed into view. the boat was approaching her starboard bow and past the long tapering jib-boom. Like Bolitho's new uniform on the wey jetty, the Destiny seemed to shine through the drifting muck. From her lithe and buff hull to her three mastheads she was a thoroughbred. All her shrouds and standing rigging were freshly blacked down, her yards crossed, and each sail neatly furled to match its neighbour."

Richard Bolitho is now an officer, newly promoted to third lieutenant. His jump from midshipman's berth to wardroom is a significant one and he's been assigned to a new ship, Destiny. The crew has been tasked with a secret mission in the Caribbean involving revolutionaries. show more Britain is currently at peace but there are stirrings in the American colonies. Along the way Bolitho runs into pirates, storms and illness. He also must decide where his loyalities lie as his captain makes it clear that his command comes first, before king and country.

This story is chock full of action. We not only flashback to where Bolitho meets his trusty coxswain Stockdale, we also get great battles on land and sea. Bolitho gets romantically involved and comes close to death. The variety within the plot keeps things interesting.

I really liked the dynamics among the crew. Captain Dumaresq was just the right amount of crazy to frustrate both the reader and Bolitho. This story also showed how Bolitho handled his new responsibilities. He's not just one of the crew anymore and has trouble adjusting as an 18 year old trying to tell men three times his age what to do.

It's been my experience that romance in books or movies about war tend to ruin the plot. It's no different here. The romantic subplot was unnecessary and detracted from the story. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next in the series. show less

I am a fan of naval fiction and plan on reading this series in chronological order. After completing the book I thought it was pretty good but after considering it for a while, I just think that Kent could have done much more to have developed the story. It's sort of like when you see a movie after reading a book, you think the book was always better because you had a much more detail and background to the story. This book feels as if it was the movie to some other better book. Suddenly at the end you are informed that there was a traitor within the midst of the ships company yet throughout the journey you were never led to believe that he existed. There was so much more that could have been done with that subplot. Yet time is devoted show more to a romantic subplot which is beyond unbelievable. Now that I write this, I think the book almost feels like it was a rough draft. It was OK as I like naval fiction but I'll continue to read the series with hopes that it gets better. show less

Ok this rocked. Not as sophisticated a writing style as Forester, but much more personable characters and much more gripping action.

I could not finish this book. Very stereotype wooden characters. Battle scenarios started poor and ended up to be ridiculous. A love scene totally unbelievable and superfluous to the story.

Enough said... I will not continue the series.

Pursuit of a long lost treasure leads to dangerous confrontation between Destiny and Spanish ship of the line. Bolitho falls in love with traitor's wife.

Loved the Hornblower series and this is very much like it. Will read all the rest as I find them.