Nathan Peake: Book 9
Publication Date: September 3, 2024
The ninth volume in the thrilling adventure series featuring Nathan Peake, British naval officer and spy, finds a young America divided against itself. . .
1806: The United States faces an existential threat from within. Vice President Aaron Burr, feeling cheated of the presidency, conspires to destroy the Union – and if he can’t become president legally, to set himself up as the leader of a breakaway republic in the West. At the same time, President Jefferson’s plan to outlaw the Atlantic slave trade provokes a secessionist movement in the Southern states. Mere decades after achieving independence from Great Britain, the young nation is in serious danger of falling apart.
To further complicate matters, a French fleet escapes the British naval blockade and heads westward across the Atlantic. Onboard is Emperor Napoleon’s younger brother, Jerome, intent on exploiting America’s internal divisions to his and his country’s advantage.
And in their wake, on a mission to assist the beleaguered President Jefferson, is the newly promoted commodore Nathan Peake with a small squadron of British warships led by the seventy-four-gun Scipio.
Nathan has his own problems to contend with, however, and at times they appear overwhelming. They include his pregnant lover who is under suspicion of being a French agent, his secretive and complicated association with the Bonaparte family, his own dissident officers, the pro-slavery faction in the British Navy, and an American double agent intent on exploiting the national crisis for his own personal gain.
The scene is set for an epic clash among the British Navy, Napoleonic France, and the forces driving America apart. And as the 1806 Battle of the Atlantic reaches the mouth of the Chesapeake, the Eastern Seaboard is about to be hit by one of the worst hurricanes in history.
From the prologue featuring a British diplomat offended by the lack of pomp and circumstance shown by President Thomas Jefferson, it is clear that readers are in for a treat with the newest installment of The Nathan Peake Novels.
The Force of Fate is the ninth adventure in the series by author Seth Hunter. Tapping into historical events, he takes readers back to the early 19th century and once again serves up a tale on the high seas.
This time, the focus is on the fledging United States caught up in the crossfire of dueling ambitions. As if that’s not enough, relations between the British and the French take a definite nose dive. However, there’s excellent fodder for excitement with Napoleon’s brother on board.
As with previous installments, this storyline is built with complex characters and a multi-faceted set of historical events serving up plenty of thrills.
The Force of Fate delivers another solid adventure for Nathan and his team.
Seth Hunter is the pseudonym of London-based Paul Bryers, the author of the highly acclaimed Nathan Peake Novels, a series of naval adventures set against the canvas of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Bryers won an English arts council award for Best First Novel for his political thriller Hollow Target, and his next thriller, In A Pig’s Ear, was named as one of the Guardian’s best six novels of the year. He has written and directed many historical dramas for British television, radio, and the theatre.
