Sharpe's Assassin

A colorful read that had me precisely in the moment, breathless and wanting more!

I’m a huge Richard Sharpe fan. Helped along by first meeting Sharpe as a tv program years ago. The rifleman from the dregs of society who took the kings shilling and went off “over the hills and far away” to fight Napoleon from one end of the European peninsula to the other, “ ‘From Portugal to the heart of France,” and now onto Paris. It’s 1815 and post Waterloo.
Sharpe has been tasked as he so laconically puts it, to “ ‘Get first into France, capture a fortress, release some prisoners, and then rejoin the army.’ “ And that’s just the beginning of Sharpe’s current enterprise.
Cornwell is just so descriptive! I was in the thick of show more battles, I came into Paris, held my anger in and honed it, as I channeled Richard Sharpe. And the old friends well met…even the memories evoked.
Sharpe is tasked to hunt down an organization La Fraternité bent on assassinating Wellington, under the cover of restoring stolen paintings housed in the Louvre. (read Cornwell’s historical notes for more info.)
If like me you love Cornwell’s writing and you’re attracted by the underdog who wins through, the irreverent scamp with a solid sense of integrity, who can cut through to the chase with no holds barred, then Richard Sharpe, a ‘forlorn hope’ survivor is your man. So many memories tied up in this novel.
The gems of historical information Cornwell drops enlighten. Like Sharpe insisting men pay the conquered populace properly for supplies and not with worthless metal buttons hammered down to look like “genuine coinage.”
Historical writing that truly engages!

A Harper ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.) show less

SHARPE IS BACK.
As good as ever and much as I have enjoyed the Author's Uhtred series, I have missed Sharpe.
The book starts with Sharpe burying one of the chosen men after the battle of Waterloo, and moves on at an exciting pace, atmospheric descriptive and gripping from first to last page, all the action and excitement we have come to expect. Works perfectly as a standalone novel for those readers just discovering our hero. The good news in the Historical notes at the end the Author states Sharpe is settled in Normandy where for the moment I shall leave him. So hopefully more to come and not so long a wait this time though.
Completely recommended.

Apart from the sheer implausibility of Richard Sharpe's rise from the ranks in Wellington's army, this is a fun read. Good background stuff for a post-Waterloo Napoleonic RPG scenario.

A nice reprise for us Sharp fans. Cleaning up after Waterloo, Sharp undertakes several ugly but necessary missions for "The Peer" as they move further into France, eventually reaching Paris. Releasing captured spies; discovering and utilizing a guillotine and fending off several plots to assassinate Wellington keep him quite busy in a notable finale to this excellent series. Retiring to a farm in Normandy with a lovely French aristocrat seems an apt reward for this unique but deadly soldier and regimental leader.

Sharpe’s growing respect by Wellington . I hadn’t remembered the forgetting that went on after Waterloo. Wellington’s respect for sharpe allowed sharpe to thwart a plot on Wellington’s life. He engaged in single combat at the end and wind by the way you’d expect Sharpe to fight.

Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Assassin is the twenty second novel in the series. We first meet Richard Sharpe at the Siege of Seringapatam in 1799 when he serves under General Arthur Wellesley, who is later elevated as the Duke of Wellington. Fans of the Sharpe books will be pleased to find Sharpe not much changed though now a Lieutenant Colonel in charge of a battalion. Irishman Pat Harper is still his reliable companion, and he still carries the Nock volley gun: " 'A wicked thing, so it is.' 'With a kick ... that makes a rifle's recoil feel like a sparrow's kiss.' "
Though the Napoleonic Wars are nearly at an end, Sharpe still has one or two more battles to fight and a personal grievance to deal with.
Cornwell always amends his novels show more with an explanation of the historical facts and of the liberties he takes with them. show less

Another good yarn , very lightweight but fun. Paris and bonepart