Kingfisher cover art

Kingfisher

The Decoy Ships, Book 1

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Kingfisher

By: Christopher C. Tubbs
Narrated by: Peter Noble
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

17th century, Charles II's reign—Barbary pirates spread mayhem and terror in the Mediterranean.

Ralph Wrenn went to sea at the age of ten. Now nineteen and recently promoted, he serves as the fourth officer on the HMS Kingfisher. It masquerades as a merchant ship to capture Barbary pirate vessels.

On one such mission, Ralph meets a beautiful and intriguing young woman. Now, he must contend not just with battles at sea but with a beguiling stranger who is not what she appears to be.

Based on the true exploits of HMS Kingfisher, culminating in the battle of the seven Algerines, this thrilling novel is perfect for lovers of naval adventures and fans of C.S. Forester, John Drake, Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell, and Griff Hosker.

©2023 Christopher C. Tubbs (P)2025 Podium Audio Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Sea Adventures War & Military Pirate

Listeners also enjoyed...

 A Certain Threat cover art
The Colonial Post-Captain cover art
A Talent for Trouble cover art
East Indiaman cover art
Kydd cover art
Lord Edward's Archer cover art
The Contraband Shore cover art
By the Mast Divided cover art
Conscripts Call cover art
Mr Midshipman Fury cover art
The Devil's Own Luck cover art
On a Making Tide cover art
All stars
Most relevant
The plot is actually quite nice, fast paced and interesting, although it wasn't really necessary to give quite so much space to the hero's blossoming love-life. However, the story plays out in 1690(ish) and does give a good sense of sitting in the earlier, more raw and unfinished stages of the Royal Navy, but historical inaccuracies such as the raising of the 'union jack' by 'the British', as well as the use of sextants on board ship, etc would have been easy to avoid and do distract from the stories qualities.

Not a bad story, but inaccuracies distract ...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed this sea yarn. Fast moving and rich in description and history. I hope their is more to come?
Bill Murray

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As good as the Dorset Boy. Ralph was at sea since he was 10. He's another tough fighter. His charachter is very likeable. Sea battles and fight scenes are great. Overall story is gripping and never a dull moment.

Equally good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.