Listen free for 30 days
-
The Gun Ketch
- The Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Series: Alan Lewrie, Book 5
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
People who bought this also bought...
-
The King's Coat
- By: Dewey Lambdin
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1780, and 17-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of naval discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise.
-
-
This is an incomplete series.
- By Longedge on 23-07-19
-
Brewer's Luck: Hornblower's Legacy
- By: James Keffer
- Narrated by: Nigel Peever
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After gaining valuable experience as an aide to Governor Lord Horatio Hornblower, William Brewer is rewarded with a posting as first lieutenant on the frigate HMS Defiant, bound for American waters. Early in their travels, it seems as though Brewer’s greatest challenge will be evading the wrath of a tyrannical captain who has taken an active dislike to him. But when a hurricane sweeps away the captain, the young lieutenant is forced to assume command of the damaged ship, and a crew suffering from low morale.
-
-
Outstanding
- By Daddy Bear on 23-09-19
-
Kydd
- Thomas Kydd, Book 1
- By: Julian Stockwin
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1793 and Europe is ablaze with war. Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press gang to be a part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life fast. Despite all that he goes through in danger of tempest and battle he comes to admire the skills and courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true sailor.
-
-
The Launch of a Top-Notch Series
- By Simon on 05-10-15
-
Brewer's Revenge
- By: James Keffer
- Narrated by: Nigel Peever
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Admiral Horatio Hornblower has given Commander William Brewer captaincy of the captured pirate sloop El Dorado. Now under sail as the HMS Revenge, its new name suits Brewer's frame of mind perfectly. He lost many of his best men in the engagement that seized the ship, and his new orders are to hunt down the pirates who have been ravaging the trade routes of the Caribbean sea. But Brewer will face more than one challenge before he can confront the pirate known as El Diabolito.
-
-
Absolutely Fantastic
- By Daddy Bear on 11-04-19
-
The Colonial Post-Captain
- Carlisle and Holbrooke Naval Adventures Series, Book 1
- By: Chris Durbin
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Carlisle hails from Virginia, a loyal colony of the British Crown. As the clouds of war gather, Carlisle's small frigate is ordered to Toulon on a reconnaissance mission. If battling the winter weather in the Gulf of Lions is not a sufficient challenge, Carlisle must also juggle the delicate diplomatic issues in this period of pre-war tension while contending with an increasingly belligerent French frigate. But Carlisle has additional problems unique to his colonial origins.
-
Greyhound
- By: C.S. Forester
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1942. America have just joined the war. Greyhound, an international convoy of 37 allied ships, is in operation. As Captain Ernest Krause leads his first command of a US destroyer, the convoy ploughs through icy, submarine-infested North Atlantic seas. All the while hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats. Grappling with his newfound superiority and haunting self-doubt in 48 hours of desperate peril, Captain Krause's hopeless mission is doomed to fail. But armed with extraordinary courage and grit, hope may just be on the horizon.
-
-
Great story great narration
- By Mr B F Hambling on 12-12-20
-
The King's Coat
- By: Dewey Lambdin
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1780, and 17-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of naval discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise.
-
-
This is an incomplete series.
- By Longedge on 23-07-19
-
Brewer's Luck: Hornblower's Legacy
- By: James Keffer
- Narrated by: Nigel Peever
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After gaining valuable experience as an aide to Governor Lord Horatio Hornblower, William Brewer is rewarded with a posting as first lieutenant on the frigate HMS Defiant, bound for American waters. Early in their travels, it seems as though Brewer’s greatest challenge will be evading the wrath of a tyrannical captain who has taken an active dislike to him. But when a hurricane sweeps away the captain, the young lieutenant is forced to assume command of the damaged ship, and a crew suffering from low morale.
-
-
Outstanding
- By Daddy Bear on 23-09-19
-
Kydd
- Thomas Kydd, Book 1
- By: Julian Stockwin
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1793 and Europe is ablaze with war. Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press gang to be a part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life fast. Despite all that he goes through in danger of tempest and battle he comes to admire the skills and courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true sailor.
-
-
The Launch of a Top-Notch Series
- By Simon on 05-10-15
-
Brewer's Revenge
- By: James Keffer
- Narrated by: Nigel Peever
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Admiral Horatio Hornblower has given Commander William Brewer captaincy of the captured pirate sloop El Dorado. Now under sail as the HMS Revenge, its new name suits Brewer's frame of mind perfectly. He lost many of his best men in the engagement that seized the ship, and his new orders are to hunt down the pirates who have been ravaging the trade routes of the Caribbean sea. But Brewer will face more than one challenge before he can confront the pirate known as El Diabolito.
-
-
Absolutely Fantastic
- By Daddy Bear on 11-04-19
-
The Colonial Post-Captain
- Carlisle and Holbrooke Naval Adventures Series, Book 1
- By: Chris Durbin
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Carlisle hails from Virginia, a loyal colony of the British Crown. As the clouds of war gather, Carlisle's small frigate is ordered to Toulon on a reconnaissance mission. If battling the winter weather in the Gulf of Lions is not a sufficient challenge, Carlisle must also juggle the delicate diplomatic issues in this period of pre-war tension while contending with an increasingly belligerent French frigate. But Carlisle has additional problems unique to his colonial origins.
-
Greyhound
- By: C.S. Forester
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1942. America have just joined the war. Greyhound, an international convoy of 37 allied ships, is in operation. As Captain Ernest Krause leads his first command of a US destroyer, the convoy ploughs through icy, submarine-infested North Atlantic seas. All the while hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats. Grappling with his newfound superiority and haunting self-doubt in 48 hours of desperate peril, Captain Krause's hopeless mission is doomed to fail. But armed with extraordinary courage and grit, hope may just be on the horizon.
-
-
Great story great narration
- By Mr B F Hambling on 12-12-20
-
Ramage
- By: Dudley Pope
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.
-
-
could be better
- By john gardner on 04-09-20
-
Call of the Raven
- By: Wilbur Smith
- Narrated by: Elliot Chapman
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The son of a wealthy plantation owner and a doting mother, Mungo St John is accustomed to the wealth and luxuries his privilege has afforded him. That is until he returns from university to discover his family ruined, his inheritance stolen and his childhood sweetheart, Camilla, taken by the conniving Chester Marion. Fuelled by anger and love, Mungo swears vengeance and devotes his life to saving Camilla - and destroying Chester.
-
-
Pure Gold from Wilbur once more
- By Stuart James Priest on 05-10-20
-
Master and Commander
- Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master and Commander is the first of Patrick O’Brian’s now famous Aubrey-Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. It establishes the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his secretive ship’s surgeon and an intelligence agent. It displays the qualities which have put O’Brian far ahead of any of his competitors.
-
-
At last, unabridged and well read...it begins.
- By John on 19-01-12
-
The Lion at Sea
- Captain Kelly Maguire Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Max Hennessy
- Narrated by: Christopher Weeks
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Confident and strong willed, Kelly Maguire knew from a young age that he could accomplish great things. A constant and abiding love of the ocean would prove to be the making of him. When the call of war is heard in the early 1910s, Kelly knows that he must answer it. Enlisting in the Royal Navy, he hopes to win both the war and personal glory. But from the barbarous battles of Gallipoli to the nightmarish action at Antwerp, Kelly, along with his young shipmates, begins to learn the trials a sailor must face, trials that will forge him from a boy into a man.
-
-
Awful pronunciation, average story.
- By susan fletcher on 07-07-20
-
Under the Eagle
- Eagles of the Empire, Book 1
- By: Simon Scarrow
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Roman series. It is 42 AD, and Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived in Germany as a new recruit to the Second Legion, the toughest in the Roman army. If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn't difficult enough for the bookish young man, he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when, because of his imperial connections, he is appointed a rank above them.
-
-
Roman squaddies on tour.
- By Jobo on 13-04-14
-
Mr Midshipman Hornblower
- By: C. S. Forester
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shaking off this label, a shy and lonely 17-year-old, Horatio Hornblower, embarks on a memorable career in Nelson's navy on HMS Justinian. In action, adventure, and battle he is forged into one of the most formidable junior officers in the service.
-
-
Absolutely superb!
- By Ben on 13-01-17
Summary
1788--Bahamas Squadron . . .
A fighter, rogue, and ladies man, Alan Lewrie has done the unthinkable and gotten himself hitched--to a woman and a ship! The woman is the lovely Caroline Chiswick. The ship is the gun ketch, Alacrity, bound for the Bahamas and a bloody game of cat and mouse with the pirates who ply the lunatic winds there. But while war comes naturally to the young husband, politics doesn't. Sure that a powerful Bahamian merchant is behind a scourge of piracy, Lewrie runs afoul of the Royal Governor--who holds the most precious hostage of all. . . .
From the windswept Carolinas to the exotic East Indies, Alan Lewrie fights and frolics with all the wild abandon of the high seas themselves. He's a true swashbuckling naval hero in the age of great sailing ships.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about The Gun Ketch
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jean
- 13-04-20
18th Century British Royal Navy
I am a fan of historical naval novels about the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. My favorite author in this genre is Patrick O’Brian. Lambdin is not as good as O’Brian, but is a good writer and knowledgeable about sailing ships of the 18th and 19th century. The book is well written and researched. The characters are interesting and the story fun to read. My only complaint is the repetition about some historical details. Most of the action is in the second half of the book. This makes a fun get-away-from-it-all read. The book is narrated by my favorite audiobook narrator. The book is thirteen hours and nine minutes. John Lee does an excellent job narrating the book. Lee is a British actor and voice actor. He has won many Audie Awards and Audiofile Earphone Awards. Lee was named the 2009 Golden Voice by Audiofile Magazine.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David
- 01-10-12
By far the best sailing books I've listen to
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gun Ketch?
I have just finished The Gun Ketch as well as books 1 thur 4 in the Alan Lewrie Series.
Dewey Lambdin is great! The best sailing writer I’ve found to date.
I’ve listen to the complete Alexander Kent Bolitho series as well as the complete Master and Commander, Hornblower, Two years before the mast and many many others.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Khatmandu
- 31-12-10
Lewrie. Alan Lewrie
Just another fun book in the Alan Lewrie series made even better with John Lee's narration. Any of the books in the series are worth the time to enjoy if you like the Age of Sail, high seas action and a flawed hero with a penchant for getting into trouble with the ladies and for the thunder of cannons.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- richard
- 28-06-19
too much boring non-nautical fluff
The nautical / ship handling/ broadside action is well done, unfortunately it occupies less than the soap opera, YA romance nonsense that takes place ashore. I read/ listen to nautical stories for the nautical part primarily, but enjoy well written character driven plots etc as much as the next guy and this author has skills.. but the breathless , juvenile romance subplot could be skipped entirely. Unfortunately, as mentioned it occupies more of the book than the seafaring part. The narrator is quite skilled
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- msjamie
- 18-07-18
So rich!
I must say, love these stories, details & especially the Rogue :) Quality audible meal!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thom M. Eldridge
- 03-05-18
Great combination of naval and land battles
One of the more interesting requirements on the Royal Navy. But always a good time.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael
- 20-02-18
What a GREAT adventure
The story is outstanding. The history is correct. The battle descriptions are among the best that I have read (more than 50) and the seamanship explanations are terrific.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Michael
- 14-01-18
another great adventure.
i really enjoyed this book. it was a good window into pirate life and the Bahamas
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thomas
- 15-05-16
Great fun
Really enjoyed, wonderful fun for a Truck Driver needing a story to help the miles go by
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jim
- 11-06-15
I loved it
The story, the side lines and characters all brilliant. Shows the hypocrisy of the 'society ' of then and now.