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Sailing Toward the Tempest

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About this listen

Early in the French Revolutionary War, a young British naval officer, Lieutenant Joseph Duncan, finds himself unexpectedly in charge of a powerful frigate. Sailing alone in the Caribbean Sea with no one to ask for advice, he makes a fateful decision to engage a superior enemy force. Although Duncan is ultimately victorious in the fierce battle, the cargo found on the French ships attracts the attention of the Foreign Service.

Soon Duncan is thrust into the world of espionage, spies, and politics. Confirmation of his temporary promotion hinges on competing factions within the highest levels of government. He forms an unlikely friendship with a rash young Marine officer with a murky background. Together they seek answers that could expose treason, and along the way, learn the French are not their only enemies.

©2025 Black Rose Writing (P)2025 Black Rose Writing Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military Espionage Feel-Good Sailing War Caribbean
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I wanted to like this, and it came close to being a real contender but unfortunately just misses the mark.

It does start strong, with the LT finding himself in charge of a Frigate but quickly devolves into a rather sluggish affair that seems to be more concerned with hitting a word count than it does telling a story.

The engagement is over shockingly quickly: more so than would be the case in all but the most extreme of circumstances and then the story simply becomes a series of narrative events that, while making sense, don't deliver anything of significant entertainment.

Most of the characters are forgettable, and several seem to exist purely to fill time: other feel like the idea was for the story to be much larger and longer, or across several books, and so time (sometimes significant) is dedicated to individuals who serve utterly no purpose.

Which leads me onto the next major problem: the hero; at no point did he ever have to face a challenge and grow as a result of it. Compared to something like the Hornblower series, where the Hero has challenges both external and internal, our hero simply stumbles from one event to the next, always triumphing, never doubting, and having other individuals go out of their way to back him. While not necessarily unbelievable at times, it doesn't really feel like a challenge or an adventure.

The narrator swings wildly between genuine good delivery with tone and humour laced into his reading, to random stoppages, stutters and a stumbling prose that made me wonder if there was an issue with my hardware. I cannot say if this is down to inexperience, skill or the written word being punctuated without care.

Overall it had the potential to deliver an adventure: and it certainly promises that in the blurb, but at no point did i feel it warranted spies, espionage or politics: it would be more akin to say that the Marine Officer exists in these worlds and Captain Duncan simply serves to take him from point A to point B.

Disappointing to say the least!

Starts strong, quickly is becalmed

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This is a great story and I really enjoyed it. The narration though is a little but amateurish. Or maybe it’s just the production. It does detract a bit from a great tale. The voices are done very well but it just needs a a bit of polishing,

Great story

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