Any Approaching Enemy: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars

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With the stunning high-seas adventure Sails on the Horizon, Jay Worrall introduced a bold new hero in the rousing tradition of Jack Aubrey: Charles Edgemont, an ambitious officer in His Britannic Majesty’s navy. Raised to the rank of captain for gallantry under fire, Edgemont proved his mettle in the bruising British victory over the Spanish fleet at the Battle of St. Vincent. Now married and in command of the twenty-eight-gun frigate Louisa, the young captain sails toward a day of destiny–for himself and for England.The year is 1798. The war between England and revolutionary France has reached a bloody stalemate, with England in the ascendancy at sea and France unchallenged on the Continent, thanks in large part to an unorthodox twenty-eight-year-old general named Napoleon Bonaparte. But the French, secretly amassing a powerful fleet, mean to break the impasse.When rumors of the French preparations leak, the Admiralty dispatches a squadron of seven ships–among them the Louisa–under the command of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson to investigate. Blindsided by a storm of ferocious intensity, the ships scatter across the seas.After the storm subsides, the damaged frigates limp back to the rendezvous point. But there is no sign of Nelson’s flagship, Vanguard, nor of two other ships of the line. Edgemont fears that the pugnacious rear admiral has pressed on with the mission.Putting his career on the line by disobeying direct orders, Edgemont sets out in pursuit of Nelson and the French fleet on a treacherous voyage along the Tuscan coast. As tensions among the crew threaten to explode into open insubordination or worse, Edgemont makes an unexpected discovery in Naples that may seriously compromise his mission.When the missing French fleet turns up off the shores of Egypt, conveying an army tens of thousands strong, Edgemont is suddenly thrown into a crisis of conscience. As circumstances grow dire and require heroic action, the fate of the crucial battle effectively lies in Edgemont’s hands–as does the course of history. From the Hardcover edition.From Publishers WeeklyWorrall brings dashing British naval Capt. Charles Edgemont back in this clever sequel to Sails on the Horizon. This time out, Edgemont joins rear admiral Horatio Nelson's squadron in the Mediterranean to search for a French fleet up to no good. When a storm scatters the squadron, Edgemont sails his frigate, Louisa, in search of Nelson—a search that becomes even more crucial when he learns the location of the French fleet at Alexandria, Egypt, from an English spy. After a series of adventures and misadventures, Edgemont finally stumbles on Nelson, and the squadron sails to Alexandria where it engages the French fleet in one of history's great naval battles—the Battle of the Nile. Worrall is well-versed in nautical history and writes with scrupulous authenticity without confusing the novice (despite the occasional "Haul the reef cringle"). The arrival on board of Edgemont's new wife, Penny, an independent and headstrong Quaker, gives Worrall an opportunity to have some fun as Penny attempts, as she says to Edgemont, to "manage thy properties." Combining engaging characters, witty dialogue and rousing action, Worrall's nautical series continues its promising start. (On sale Apr. 18) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistWorrall serves up a suitably salty tale featuring Napoleonic-era naval captain Charles Edgemont, the hero of Sails on the Horizon (2005). This time around, Edgemont is part of Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet, patrolling the Mediterranean. When a storm blows the fleet off course, wreaking havoc on the individual ships, Edgemont and the stalwart crew of the Louisa are determined to locate the missing Nelson. The military action culminates at Alexandria, Egypt, where Nelson and company engage the French fleet in the legendary Battle of the Nile. The author works in an intriguing personal angle when Edgemont's new pacifist Quaker wife, Penelope, joins her husband on board. Fans of the late, great Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series will relish this historically faithful seafaring adventure. Margaret FlanaganCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved