2008-07-04 Hawkwood Assists the Royal Navy

James McGee is the pseudonym of Glen Moy, who was born into an army family in 1950. He was educated in Gibraltar, Germany and Belfast, giving him a love of travel, which is evident in his meticulous, vivid portraits of diverse people and places. His varied career has included banking, bookselling, thirteen years in the airline business, and book reviewing.

This is the third novel (the other two being Ratcatcher and Ressurectionist) featuring Matthew Hawkwood, a Bow Street Runner, and a bit of a loose cannon as far as taking orders from his superior is concerned. An ex-army officer and one of the best shots in his regiment. Matthew is more used to giving orders than taking them and he is not above bringing his own form of rough justice to the slums and drinking dens of Regency London..

I must admit to enjoying this book slightly less than the previous two. I am not sure whether it is the fact that Hawkwood is taken away from his old stamping ground of the slums of London and the dross that live there, along with his old sergeant, Jago, who has helped Matthew on more than one occasion in the past. Jago the self styled king of the beggars became almost as much a part of the storyline as Matthew Hawkwood himself. The author has kept the character of Jago in the storyline but he does not feature anwhere near as prominently as before.

This book is still well worth a read and it is not necessary to have read the other two books, although they may give some relevant background information on the lead character Matthew Hawkwood. The storyline places Hawkwood in the more rural setting of the Thames estuary and involves among other things smuggling and the prison ships known as the hulks. These are the rat infested, rotten, flea ridden stinking hulls of former men-of-war converted to hold French prisoners from the Napoleonic wars. To be sent to the hulks is tantamount to a death sentence. The Royal Navy have received information that a well organised smuggling racket is taking place within the confines of the hulks and when two naval officers sent to investigate mysteriously disappear it is time to see whether Hawkwood can fare any better in a world that is as close to hell as makes no difference. The friendship struck up by Matthew and Lasseur, a French sea captain makes for a new twist to the series.