British naval officer Martin Jerrold missed the Battle of Trafalgar (drunk in his ship's hold in The Blighted Cliffs
) and let a prisoner escape during his command of a prison ship (in Chains of Albion
). For his third outing, Jerrold, who narrates with speed and humor, is pressed into service by British spies. From a courier, the spies have stolen a letter they suspect concerns conspiracy—one that could draw Britain and the newly birthed U.S. into war. Jerrold agrees to deliver the letter, infiltrate the conspiracy and find a way to frustrate the scheme. Joined by an enigmatic and beautiful young woman he meets on the transatlantic crossing, Jerrold plunges "headlong into the American wilderness" in September of 1806. The purloined letter leads Jerrold to an island in the Ohio River and former American vice president Aaron Burr, who hopes to revive his fortunes by invading Mexico and forging "a new empire on America's border" with the help of English benefactors. As Burr's expedition floats down the Mississippi toward New Orleans, Jerrold races to stop Burr's delusional scheme and prevent a devastating conflict between England and the U.S. Thomas surrounds Jerrold with a delightful cast of rogues, fictional and otherwise, and Jerrold once again proves an eminently likable, disarmingly fallible swashbuckler. (Jan.)
