Stand Into Danger

Stand Into Danger is a first rate sea novel. I grew up with the Hornblower novels while living in Hawaii,reading my books at the top of a large breadfruit tree where I could get the rocking motions of a ship. Kent takes me back to those days. The Bolitho series is exciting and full of adventure and action. You will be one of the ships company and at sea in no time.

This is now the second book (since the 3 Midshipman Bolitho novels have been compacted into one edition) in Kent's Bolitho series. Kent's writing style is easy to follow and this book can be knocked off pretty quickly. There is plenty of action and various plot twists that all come together at the end. I liked the fact that this book is neither a collection of various adventures nor one big long story, but somewhere in between. If you like a series that is easy to read and has lots of action, then this is the series for you. One blemish, though--there's a girl (and many a good war book or movie was ruined by a love interest.) I'd say this gal is totally unneeded, but I think the reader can relate to Bolitho's feelings. So, I won't take off a star.

My family physician brought my attention, in the first place, to Patrick O'Brian's series of books about the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey of the British Navy in the days of wooden ships and iron men.I was not new to naval fiction. I cut my teeth on Howard Pease's stories of the merchant marine, which inspired me, directly, to ship out at the age of 16 on an 8,000 ton freighter, in the "black gang," as a fireman. Subsequently, I joined the U.S. Navy on my 17th birthday and eventually I built my own ketch-rigged sailboat, the "Wild Goose," and sailed her on the Pacific with my family.I am somewhat of a connoisseur of naval fiction, especially as it relates to sailing vessels. The late Patrick O'Brian was a master of the genre, and his details of square riggers sailing rig and of life aboard vessels of the late 18th century were unsurpassed. Many of his actions were taken directly from admiralty records.Alexander Kent is more of a storyteller, and he does not depend so much on detail of the sailing rig. He is more interested in the story, and his stories are superb! He keeps you reading far into the night to see how it comes out. I would read the books through in one setting, if my schedule allowed. My doctor recommewnded this series, also.Like O'Brian, Kent (a pseudonym) follows the career of a single extraordinary seaman, Richard Bolitho, from Midshipman on to command. Bolitho began his career at the age of twelve, although the series pick him up at 16, a seasoned midshipman, in the first book of the series (which I have reviewed) "Midshipman Bolitho," in which he is assigned to a 74 gun ship of the line, the Gorgon. "Stand into Danger" picks him up as a third lieutenant on the Destiny, a frigate.There is plenty of action in both stories. I have the third book in the series, now, and have the fourth on order. That should tell how much I like the series.Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenanceand other books

This is the first Alexander Kent novel I have read (I skipped the first one because this one sounded a little better) and it was a very enjoyable read. I have read several other authors in this genre, and my favorite by far is Patrick O'Brian. None of the other authors I have read, including Kent, really even come close to O'Brian's brillant novels. I enjoyed this book, however, and I will definately read more of this series. Life in the royal navy is romanticized more in this novel than in the novels of Patrick O'Brian and Richard Woodman. For example, all of the Destiny's officers are completely top-notch professional men. In reality, a fairly high percentage of navel officers during this time were highly incompetent and owed their positions to the fact that they were born to a wealthy, influential family. The characters in this novel are not developed to any great degree except for Bolitho himself. In general, I suppose this novel is a little cheesy in many respects, but I got drawn into it and really enjoyed it none-the-less. The book's hero is very likable and seems very real; he's no superhero. The best thing about this book are the action scenes. There is a lot of action and it is very well described. We experience the fear and horror of battle through Bolitho's eyes and it comes across more powerfully than in any other sea novel I have read, including O'Brian's. The battle scenes in an O'Brian novel are exciting but they seem to be a little aloof; a little removed from the death and horror that the common seamen experienced. This is not the case with Kent. In sum, I would almost dub Kent's work "O'Brian lite", but his great battle scenes make his work a little more than that.

I have, over the years, from the 1970's, accumulated every one of the Bolitho Books. If you are a water person, and have any interest in Military History, or action adventure stories, this is the series for you to have. I have found Mr. Kent's (Douglass Reeman) writing to be profoundly interesting, and extreremly well researched and throughly thought out.. I recommend this series highly.