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Overview: David Donachie was born in Edinburgh in 1944. He has had a variety of jobs, including selling everything from business machines to soap. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which he drew upon for the many novels he has set in that period. The author of a number of bestselling books, he now lives in Deal with his wife, fellow A&B author.
Genre: Fiction > General Fiction/Classics > Sea-Going > Historical > Adventure > Naval
By the Mast Divided (John Pearce #1):
1793. Young firebrand John Pearce, on the run from the authorities, is illegally press-ganged from the Pelican tavern into brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on its way to war. In the first few days Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. But he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader.
A Shot Rolling Ship (John Pearce #2):
Pressed into King George’s Navy for the second time in a month, John Pearce and his Pelicans find themselves working aboard the HMS Brazen, sailing the Channel from Plymouth to Dover in search of the numerous French privateers that prey on English merchant her task to stop them and, if possible, to capture or destroy them. Pearce has greater things on his mind–he must rescue his ailing father from the dangers of revolutionary Paris and to do that he must somehow leave the ship. He tries mutiny, the crew being readied by failure, but Captain Benjamin Colbourne is quick and smartly promotes Pearce to Midshipman. Pearce is thereby freed to leave the ship immediately–which appears to the remaining Pelicans as though their leader has deserted them.
An Awkward Commission (John Pearce #3):
Stranded in Portsmouth, John Pearce has once again failed to secure the release of those who depended on him – his fellow Pelicans. They have been shipped off to the Mediterranean while he was indulging himself in London. So he must take ship and follow them. His application to William Pitt for a place finds him as 8th lieutenant on HMS Victory, flagship of Admiral Lord Hood. South and ahead of him, his Pelicans are serving under a flogging captain, but all is not lost as each of the gang does what he can to promote himself – O’Hagan fights to establish his place in the below decks hierarch; Taverner carves out a niche where his trickery can work to the gang’s advantage; Gherson ends up as secretary to Rear Admiral Ralph Barclay. As the action moves to the main French Mediterranean port of Toulon, the tension between crews and captains intensifies, coming to a brilliant head when the HMS Brilliant is detached from the fleet under the orders of Captain Horatio Nelson, bound for North Africa.
A Flag of Truce (John Pearce #4):
Pearce eventually returns to the siege having survived conflict on both land and water only to find Barclay acquitted and exempt from further trial under the law of double jeopardy. Despite clear warnings not to do so he begins a romance with Emily Barclay, but mayhem surrounds the evacuation of Toulon and the revolutionary forces, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are closing in to retake the port…
The Admirals’ Game (John Pearce #5):
Since being illegally press-ganged into joining King George’s Navy, John Pearce has overcome numerous adversaries, which have secured him a position of command on board HMS Faron. Having successfully overcome the French at the Siege of Toulon, Pearce and his comrades, the Pelicans, now face the on-going, bloody battle to defend the port. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Pearce’s continuing conflict with Captain Ralph Barclay, the man responsible for press-ganging Pearce and his companions into the Navy, intensifies as Barclay faces a court martial for his actions. But with Barclay’s superiors, Admiral Lord Hood and Admiral Hotham, in dispute over how to deal with Barclay’s misgivings and with his wife, Emily, struggling to cope with his barbarous nature, Barclay’s future looks uncertain.
An Ill Wind (John Pearce #6):
Toulon, 1793. With the Republican Army at the gates, the citizens of Toulon are panicking, trying to flee the retribution of the guillotine. Amongst this confusion John Pearce and the rest of the Allied forces must put the needs of war before their the Arsenal and dockyard must be destroyed, the ships they cannot get away must be set alight to deny them to the enemy. And Pearce is entrusted with dangerous tasks by Admiral Hotham. His orders take on a particularly a challenging form when Pearce is tasted with evacuating the hospital and finds himself sailing in close proximity to Captain Ralph Barclay – the man he intends to have court-martialled – and his wife Emily. Matters between the men come to a head, and Pearce is sucked into a web of intrigue and devious politics.
Blown Off Course (John Pearce #7):
Lieutenant John Pearce is in London seeking protection for his friends, the Pelicans, from a reluctant Admiralty. Sat in the Pelican Tavern where they were first press-ganged, he wonders what future he has, lacking funds and an occupation if he leaves Navy, and without the evidence that would bring Captain Ralph Barclay to justice for perjury. Problems are mounting for Barclay as well. Emily, his young, estranged wife, is refusing to live under the same roof as him and intends to use the evidence Pearce thinks is lost to get her own way.
Enemies at Every Turn (John Pearce #8):
Free from jail, John Pearce is not free from the smugglers whose boat he stole – they want bloody revenge and are prepared to chase him to the ends of the earth to get it. The court martial papers that threaten to also damn Pearce are at risk due to the calculating schemes of Ralph Barclay. But the danger is only just beginning, for Pearce must undertake a dangerous mission in support of a massive revolt in the Vendee region of France. As high rebellious ambition turns to bloody disaster, Pearce faces real peril, climaxing in one of the greatest battles of the Revolutionary the Battle of the Glorious First of June.
A Sea of Troubles (John Pearce #9):
1794. In the wake of the Glorious 1st of June, an equivocal success for the British naval fleet against the French Revolutionary forces, John Pearce has pressing matters to attend to. He has an urgent commission from Lord Hood, he must track down Midshipman Toby Burns and placate Emily who, estranged from her husband, Pearce s enemy Captain Ralph Barclay, is now under his protection. Meanwhile, the Pearce finds himself aboard HMS Agamemnon, and in series of actions and shore raids, impresses Horatio Nelson with his bold and brave maneuvers. Donachie’s sea-faring, firebrand hero throws an intriguing light on the naval skirmishes between Britain and Revolutionary France.
A Divided Command (John Pearce #10):
Unbeknown to John Pearce, the private letter he is delivering on behalf of the prime minister carries the dismissal of the very man he is sailing to see. Politics intervene in matters of the sea and the need for a government majority to pursue the war with France means John Pearce must step down as Britain’s best sailor, regretfully relinquishing the position to the incompetent Admiral Hotham. Hotham is equally less than pleased about John Pearce, as he is the one person who knows the truth about his dishonest and wicked naval career. Pearce knows Hotham will try and destroy him any way he can to keep from being exposed, so he must navigate the dangerous waters whilst trying to return to Emily Barclay, the woman he loves.
The Devil to Pay (John Pearce #11):
Faced with a ship in need of repair, enemy attacks and the threat of wily Admiral Hotham, John Pearce is sailing into danger. Meanwhile Ralph Barclay is on his way to the Mediterranean. Thinking his wife still with Pearce and that he can repair his marriage by rescuing her, he sails in pursuit, Hotham half-hoping he suffers the same fate as the admiral has in store for Pearce. Can John Pearce fight to first save himself and his charges from captivity and then to be free from the enemy? It is a battle that will require all of his wits.
The Perils of Command (John Pearce #12):
John Pearce has to fight on many fronts. First against his pious, now pregnant lover Emily, then her cruel husband Ralph Barclay. He must take on and defeat Admiral Hotham while that officers seek to beat the French and fails twice though a lack of gallantry to press home his advantage. Sea battles, emotional turmoil and downright chicanery mix in a stew of blood and scheming until Pearce discovers two facts that should change his life. But is what is being proposed fit for a man now accustomed to war, a man for whom gallantry is the stuff of life?
A Treacherous Coast (John Pearce #13):
1796. Pearce and his wife Emily are in living in Bath, when Minister of War Henry Dundas turns up and suggests a second mission to the Vendee, this time as a liaison between the French emigres intending to land in Brittany and the British naval and military commanders who will accompany them. The proposed expedition looks promising and Pearce takes the bait. Once at sea, however, Pearce and his crew encounter a French fleet and an indecisive battle ensues off the Ile de Groix. Pearce, accompanied by his faithful Pelicans, must go ashore into dangerous territory to check the lay of the land, find the allies and seek to co-ordinate actions in a situation where the forces of the Republic are gathering to crush the rebels .
On a Particular Service (John Pearce #14):
1796. Lieutenant John Pearce is going home aboard a hospital ship crammed with human cargo. But added to the difficulties of insufficient ballast to match the heavy swells of the Mediterranean in midwinter, Pearce must also avoid capture by an Algerine warship.
His problems are soon mounting when in attempting to steer his disparate band of friends, the Pelicans, clear of being pressed into service aboard a British frigate, the group risk being hanged for desertion once home. By cunning and bluff Pearce seeks to protect his friends, but his troubled love life with Emily suffers.
In a whirlwind of action, there are forged wills, devious trades, contrived murders and dangerous spy missions, with so much deceit that Pearce does not know who to trust. All he can hope to do is survive.
A Close Run Thing (John Pearce #15):
John Pearce is hiding in Gravelines with his mysterious companion, known to him as Oliphant. Although they find a crew willing to take them back to England, they learn on the journey that Pearce’s old enemies, the Tolland brothers, are still active on the route, and may have been responsible for the murder of Catherine Carruthers.
Back in England their problems continue: Pearce must seek to mend fences with Emily Barclay, in a relationship in which nothing is simple. And just as things may be looking up, it seems Henry Dundas has another role for him and Oliphant: a mission to north-east Spain…
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HMS Hazard (John Pearce Series #16)
viewtopic.php?f=121&t=4693584
A Troubled Course (John Pearce #17)
viewtopic.php?f=121&t=5082687.
