Rapscallion - Softcover

McGee, James

4.04

664 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007212747 ISBN 13: 9780007212743

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2009

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Matthew Hawkwood, ex-soldier turned Bow Street Runner, goes undercover to hunt down smugglers and traitors at the height of the Napoleonic Wars in this thrilling follow-up to Ratcatcher.

For a French prisoner of war, there is only one fate worse than the gallows: the hulks. Former man-o'-wars, now converted to prison ships, their fearsome reputation guarantees a sentence served in the most dreadful conditions.

Few survive. Escape, it's said, is impossible.

Yet reports persist of a sinister smuggling operation within this brutal world – and the Royal Navy is worried enough to send two of its officers to investigate.

But when they disappear without trace, the Navy turns in desperation to Bow Street for help. It's time to send in a man as dangerous as the prey. It's time to send in Hawkwood...

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Review:

Praise for Resurrectionist:

‘Breakneck pace, brutal action, clever characterisation and twisty plotting ... James McGee brings Regency London to life – or perhaps I should say to death!' Reginald Hill

Praise for Ratcatcher:

'Irresistible... rambunctious entertainment'
Observer

'Rumbustious...a darkly attractive hero, terrific period atmosphere and action' The Times

'Atmospheric and well researched... try it' Daily Mirror

'"Ratcatcher" has everything: duels and derring-do, London highlife and lowlife, French lechery and treachery – all contained in a fast-moving, cleverly constructed plot with an immaculately detailed historical background. Add a hero who is ruthless, mysterious and sexy, and it's a safe bet that "Ratcatcher" marks the start of a series that will run and run ... and run!' Reginald Hill

'"Ratcatcher" is a richly enjoyable and impressively researched novel – also very gripping. James McGee is clearly a rising star in the historical galaxy and I look forward to Hawkwood's return' Andrew Taylor, author of 'The American Boy'

From the Author:

James McGee discusses the setting of 'Rapscallion'

Any town that could inspire such anger in a Prime Minister that he ordered its entire boat fleet burnt to a cinder has got to be worth a mention in any one's book. Well, it was in mine....

Deal was the town and it was Deal's role in the smuggling trade during the 18th and 19th centuries that inflamed the wrath of William Pitt, Britain's then premier politician, and gave me the idea for Rapscallion, the third Matthew Hawkwood adventure; a tale of prison hulks, French privateers and the landing of contraband on moonlit beaches. But the link with the `wicked trade' is just one of Deal's claims to fame. The castle, built by Henry VIII, guarded the Downs, the vast anchorage that was home to the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and Horatio Nelson walked Deal's narrow streets. Who wouldn't want to follow in the footsteps of Britain's greatest naval hero and retrace history?

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