Book 1 of a new series of Napoleonic historical novels featuring William John Hazzard.

Mixing historical fact with a boy's own adventure story Jonathan Spencer brings to life the tale of Napoleon's assault on Malta and the action and intrigue that takes place on the lead up to the invasion.

The story moves along at a good pace and introduces an interesting collection of characters both real and fictitious who Hazzard meets on his mission to rescue his fiancée and support Nelson's search for Napoleon's armada.

Being the first in a series means that there are a fair few loose ends that will move into book 2 but the story is engaging and keeps your interest throughout.

My one issue with the book is the use of French, Italian and other languages in the test - some of which are immediately translated into English and some which are not. I understand that this is to give the story a flavour of the settings and foreign characters but after a while it can get distracting especially if your command of foreign languages is as bad as mine.

For me this is a 5 star story but with a 1 star deduction due to the overuse of foreign languages

I'll certainly be looking out for Book 2 to see how Hazzard gets on in his quest to foil Monsieur Bonaparte

https://montysbookreviews.blogspot.com/2020/08/napoleons-run-jonathan-spencer.ht... ( )

Hazzard is a man on a quest and continually pays a heavy price. From the lash in his early navy days, through brutal warfare and ultimately savage torture by a French spymaster he is physically and mentally a wreck as this first book ends. But his quest will continue. This story is nicely done but an oblique look at the early days of the Napoleonic Era. ( )

Riveting!

Spencer has not only written an energizing Naval saga around the times of Nelson, but he's thrown in a mystery, a love story and intrigue that sweeps from Cape Town to Naples and on to Malta, between 1795 and 1798. Our hero William John Hazzard, Lieutenant of Marines, has become an embittered disillusioned figure after his Cape Town endeavours and what he perceives as a politically motivated treachery and dishonor on the part of the Admiralty. For me Hazzard is a man in the vein of of Cornwell's Sharpe figure. (Whom I have for ever been in love with--or is that Sean Bean? Oh my! Shallow side of me revealed!) I'm really enjoying this new anti hero, somewhat of a berserker when pressed. No wonder another of my fav. historical writer's Michael Jecks likes this.
The enemy within? Figures within the Admiralty who obfuscate situations, and lie to Hazzard, sending him on kamikaze style missions.
The enemy without? Citizen Jules-Yves Derrien, known as Citizen Croquemort –the Mortician, Bonaparte's spymaster. A character right out of the excesses of the post Revolution era, a zealot of a man, committed to Bonaparte. A devil incarnate.
Then there's the band of men who would walk through fire for Hazzard. Men from his past and those he gathers to him like a magnate gathers iron filings.
The woman he's always loved, Sarah-Louise Chapel, who as the saga unfolds, is apparently trapped in Naples and needs Hazzards help.
Hazzard crosses oceans seeking Nelson's fleet, facing unimaginable odds and showing his shrewd intuitive skills in his quest to rescue Sarah.
I read the Run over the course of one night into the ridiculous hours of the next morning because I could not put it down.
I was left exhausted and yet salivating for more. A saga wrapped up in Intrigue, heroics and ignoble actions, that doesn't shrink from the bestiality found in war.
Spencer's Historical Notes places occurrences and known figures into their historical timeframes, outlining the realities of the occasions confronted and their consequences.
Thorough research and a magnetic story. I'm well and truly ready for the next in the series.

A Canelo ARC via NetGalley ( )

Napoleon’s Run by Jonathan Spencer
The William John Hazzard Series #1

Swashbuckling adventure on the high seas with a bigger than life but very real hero swept me into a world long gone but not forgotten. This book reminded me of some on my father’s shelves that he would loan to me to read. One such was Captain Horatio Hornblower comes to mind. This action-packed historical novel drew me in and didn’t let me go till I finished it. I highly recommend it.

What I liked:
* William John Hazzard: a good man, a great marine, a superior leader, highly skilled and educated, perhaps suffering from PTSD, willing to make difficult decisions, there for his men and also for those he truly cared about.
* Sarah Chapel: William’s betrothed that waited for him then got tired of waiting and struck out on her own…and what an adventure her life became
* The writing, plot and story as it was written – I grew to care about the characters and the outcome of the story
* The history that I learned
* The descriptions of fighting, sailing and personal interactions seemed believable and also appealed to all my senses
* Getting to know a new author and reading his debut work
* The realness including the grit, grime, and dirtier aspects of being a sailor, captured, spying and what could happen if you were caught
* Wanting to find out what happens next AND knowing that the second book in the series is already listed
* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* Jules-Yves Derrien: a cruel, twisted, evil man…do hope he gets taken down in the future
* Being reminded how cruel some Naval officers were and the punishments that were meted out
* Having to say goodbye to the characters and now wait for the next book in the series

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )