The Spithead Nymph: Sea Officer William Bentley Novels (Sea Officer William Bentley Novels, No. 3.)

Rating:
Summary: Spithead Nymph by Jan Needle
Review: Good read, fast paced and as historically accurate as possible within a fictional book. Needle portrays life in the British Navy more accurately than some other authors of the same genre who downplay some of the harsher aspects of life aboard a royal man of war. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Needle's work.

Rating:
Summary: Slow Going
Review: It's always fun to discover an interesting new series, and I had hoped to enjoy this novel. Nuts. I didn't enjoy it. I actually gave up trying to get throught it, something I almost never do. The early chapters of this book refer to characters and events from earlier novels in this series, I guess. "Whatever," as the kids say. A lot of what went on in these chapters was either confusing or boring. Why should I care about a character named Deb? Who is she and how is she related to the main character, William? I guess I should have read the first two novels before I started this one, but I don't think I'll bother.

Rating:
Summary: Slow Going
Review: It's always fun to discover an interesting new series, and I had hoped to enjoy this novel. Nuts. I didn't enjoy it. I actually gave up trying to get throught it, something I almost never do. The early chapters of this book refer to characters and events from earlier novels in this series, I guess. "Whatever," as the kids say. A lot of what went on in these chapters was either confusing or boring. Why should I care about a character named Deb? Who is she and how is she related to the main character, William? I guess I should have read the first two novels before I started this one, but I don't think I'll bother.

Rating:
Summary: Spithead Nymph
Review: Jan Needle has chosen to take his reader on a realistic journey into the reality of Napoleonic-era Britain and that reality is unvarnished indeed. His charcters are flawed and thus believable and his villains are not subhuman and thus are confounding. This book is a good read; fast paced and written for those who still enjoy the English language. Be ready for a less than happy feeling though, for I suspect Needle's descriptions reflect what life was really like for most of those who lived in those terrible times. In sum, I recommend this book especially as a change of pace from the usual Napoleonic seafarer genre.