The King's Coat

 The King's Coat: The First Naval Adventure of Alan Lewrie by Dewey Lambdin, 384 pages

When nothing else could hold my attention (I've started and abandoned about 4 books recently!) a British Navy tale will always do. This was one I'd been meaning to read for quite a while, and once I realized I just did not have the attention span for nonfiction or dense literary fiction, I decided to go with action and adventure in search of something that would keep me turning the pages. 

Alan Lewrie is no Horatio Hornblower and Dewey Lambdin is no C.S. Forester, but that's okay. This was an action-packed adventure and even though I won't devour these books like I did the Horatio Hornblower series, I'm sure I'll pick up more in the future. 

Alan Lewrie has enjoyed the life of an aristocrat in 1780s England, but his father, fearing Lewrie will inherit all his wealth and preferring the children of his wife to the child of his mistress, sends Lewrie to sea, half expecting Lewrie not to survive the adventure and not much caring either way if he does. Lewrie is very much a fish out of water (pun intended) as he struggles to learn his new duties and to find ways to survive in a difficult and unforgiving environment. While I found myself occasionally shocked and scandalized at some of Lewrie's choices (I prefer the rule-following Hornblower!), I did enjoy the action and descriptions of the seafaring life. And I enjoyed the descriptions as Lewrie begins to actually thrive as a midshipman and hope for promotion, prizes, and glory. 

Lots of action (both on the sea and, uh, in some of the seedier port towns) and good supporting characters and situations, I was glad to find a book that held my interest again.