HMS Hazard

Written by David Donachie

Narrated by John Telfer

1796. John Pearce is stuck with a difficult mission, a crew of Quota Men forced to enlist in the Royal Navy, four new midshipmen as well as Samuel Oliphant, companion-cum-spy, whom he finds a constant irritant. In his favour he commands HMS Hazard, a speedy warship, a pair of competent officers and, of course, his trusty friends the Pelicans. Their mission is to head for the Mediterranean Fleet and warn Admiral Sir John Jervis of impending danger he will face, fighting a combined French/Spanish fleet. But there is a serious distraction, the imminent arrival of a Spanish vessel from South America carrying silver, for which the Spaniards are waiting before declaring war. Can John Pearce resist the lure of such a valuable capture and risk his ship in a dangerous battle to gain it, or will his duty come first?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soundings
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781407999739

David Donachie

Born in Edinburgh in 1944, David Donachie has had a variety of jobs, including selling everything from business machines to soap. He has always had an abiding interest in the naval history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The author of a number of bestselling books, he now lives in Deal, Kent with his wife, the novelist Sarah Grazebrook and their two children.

Reviews for HMS Hazard

[Sue Bastian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was hard to deal with a new performer who has a seriously beautiful and sexy voice but especially in the beginning could not get vocal tics out of the melody of the voice. It seems that every sentence seemed to be performed with three exclamation points at the end… Toward the end of the story, this tick calmed down and the Scottish accent of our hero was very enjoyable. This was probably one of my favorites.

[Chad Sklowinski · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book was good but the bickering between two of the main characters got wearisome. I didn't like the new narators style, but won't judge the book based on that.