Relentless Pursuit - Hardcover

Alexander, Kent

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434008842 ISBN 13: 9780434008841

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

This story is set in the December of 1815. Adam Bolitho's orders are unequivocal. As captain of His Majesty's frigate Unrivalled of forty-six guns, he is required to 'repair in the first instance to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and reasonably assist the senior officer of the patrolling squadron. But all efforts of the British anti-slavery patrols to curb a flourishing trade in human life are hampered by unsuitable ships, by the indifference of a government more concerned with old enemies made distrustful allies, and by the continuing belligerence of the Dey of Algiers, which threatens to ignite a full-scale war. For Adam, also, there is no peace. Lost in grief and loneliness, his uncle's death still unavenged, he is uncertain of all but his identity as a man of war. The sea is his element, the ship his only home, and a reckless, perhaps doomed attack on an impregnable stronghold his only hope of settling the bitterest of debts.

About this title

Review:

Relentless Pursuit represents something new in Alexander Kent's work--the moral questions raised here are just as powerfully engaged as the action-crammed, continent-spanning narrative. As the prime contender for the most accomplished practitioner of naval fiction, Kent is at his commensurate best. His vividly written, pungently characterised tales are amazingly consistent--few authors are such reliable purveyors of historical fiction (or fiction of any kind, for that matter)

The year is 1815, and Adam Bolitho has received some equivocal orders. His duties as captain of His Majesty's frigate Unrivalled have led him into some dangerous waters before, but he is now required to take his ship's company to Freetown, Sierra Leone and "assist the senior officer of the patrolling squadron". But what does this mean in practice? Bolitho's worst fears are realised when he finds that British anti-slavery patrols are failing to halt a ravening trade in human misery, crippled by unsuitable ships and government indifference. And compounding the problems is the belligerent Dey of Algiers, looking for nothing less than total war. As Adam goes about his thankless work, he is dealing with the grief of his uncle's death and his own loneliness--and, ultimately, a reckless assault on a massively fortified stronghold may be his only way of coming to terms with his problems.

Kent makes Adam's conflicts acutely personal, with the historical panoply around him perfectly dovetailed with these personal elements. He is almost an existential hero--existing most fully when he does his job: as a man of war, as an adventurer in dangerous nautical encounters.--Barry Forhaw

Review:

...another gripping yarn with lots of derring-do and a sense of the loneliness of command and personal loss. -- Coventry Evening Telegraph

One of our foremost writers of naval fiction -- Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0434008842
• ISBN 13: 9780434008841
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336