The Chains of Albion. Edwin Thomas

The book ordered arrived in short order and was in terrific condition. I would buy from this store anytime.

Martin Jerrold is now a Captain... of a stinking prison hulk full of poor French prisoners of war. This wild adventure opens even more hilariously than the last one, with Jerrold quite happy to be safe from bodily harm and in possession of a large cabin where he can entertain his "cousin", the very capable Isobel. During such a visit, Jerrold is called away to see to a possible escape attempt, and then a true escape when his French translator is found missing. Also missing is Isobel's dress. And the razor blade Jerrold had loaned the privileged prisoner. And then an imperious Major of the Horse-Guards arrives, urgently wanting to see the escaped man--and he gets Jerrold's superior to demote him and order him to find the prisoner or face getting drummed out of the Navy. Not that Jerrold doesn't think leaving the Navy would be a bad idea, but the humiliation and the problem with actually making a living at something else leaves him with little choice other than to chase the prisoner. He faces the First Lord of the Admiralty (who keeps Jerrold's uncle too cowed to rip into Jerrold), and muck and mire with only one set of clothes and one boot, and mysterious ladies and men of Carlton House and politicians of the opposition--all who want the prisoner, but none of whom are exactly sure WHY the prisoner is so important. Fortunately, Jerrold has a friend in the Post Office! As before, Jerrold is mostly on land, around Plymouth, Dartmoor, Brighton and London, and aside from his habitual state, only occasionally at sea. The politics and historical detail are very good. And Jerrold provides the comic relief without being a total buffoon. As before, he is not stupid and actually has curiosity that not only leads him into hazard, but is good in a sleuth. And he truly does not want the crazy adventures that he falls into, but Jerrold is definitely a man who will often not receive what he desires! Although, he's survived, and he's got the unflappable and intelligent Isobel, so perhaps he is not quite as hapless and luckless as he seems. I enjoyed the adventure and the mystery. I could guess at what the secret was towards the end, since I was somewhat familiar with the period, but it was all good fun and quite an enjoyable read.

This continues the hapless adventures of Lieutenant Jerrold. Imagine a less swashbuckling Flashman (by the late Great George MacDonald Fraser) with as much humor. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hooked by the mystery and found the ending particularly clever.

Finishing the second installment of Thomas' Misadventures of Lt. Martin Jerrold left another smile on my face as I closed the last page. I enjoyed it just as much as the first book Blighted Cliffs and eagerly await starting the last in the series Treason's River. These books are nothing but pure fun and adventure with a nice blend of all ingredients loved by readers who just want to sit back and enjoy the ride. One has to love Martin Jerrold, he's a hero with human flaws and failures known to us all but still manages to come out ahead in the end after a merry long chase of madcap mischief and mayhem. Another standing ovation for the author in my eyes, it's nice to see authors still writing a good old fashioned yarn of adventure on the high seas that keep you glued to the pages without looking up but once!

Most first commands are relatively modest. A schooner, brig or perhaps a corvette for a real go-getter would be normal. Lt. Martin Jerrold gets a big first command. He gets a ship of the line, a prize normally going to senior captains. There is a catch. His command is a prison hulk and does nothing more than house prisoners and swing with the tide. That suits him just fine. It keeps him out of danger and conveniently close to his mistress. It's a nice little racket for a lazy bumbler. Jerrold's world is upset when a prisoner escapes. This is not unusual except that everyone seems to be interested in this particular prisoner. Both political parties are adamant that his future depends on recapturing the escapee and the dangerous papers he carries but they will not tell him why this prisoner is important. When the crown prince's cronies and the intelligence service get involved, life gets positively dangerous, not to mention uncomfortable, as he chases after a prisoner he doesn't really care about. This book is about on par with the first book of the series, THE BLIGHTED CLIFFS. It is reasonably well written and tells an interesting story. The character is not the cad some portray him to be. He is merely a bumbler and a strangely likeable one at that.