Wildtrack

I thought I was familiar with all of Cornwell's novels. Guess I was wrong. But I noted the copyright date of 1988 on this one, so it's been around for a while. Maybe he's got a new publisher. At any rate, this is very different from his historical novels. His main character is an ex-British Army Captain, severely wounded in the Falklands, who wants nothing more than to go to sea in his old, much-restored, wooden sailboat. There are hints of Nevil Shute's aviation-based stories, and of Dick Francis's racing stories -- essentially a story built around technical details of sailing and a reasonably plausible "thriller" plot. I noted in the Kindle edition a listing of five books in "The Sailing Thrillers" category. Think that I'll look for them. If you're looking for typical Cornwell historical fiction, this isn't it. If you like a nice read with modern sailing challenges, this is pretty good.

The first thing the reader becomes aware of is that Cornwell really knows sailing. He know all the terminology, and ins and outs of sail craft. His characters are plausible and appealing. The plot develops well and has some surprising twists. Bernard Cornwell is a master story teller. Anyone who loves the sea and adventure stories will love this book. Henry Stuart