This second novel in the series of Lieutenant Alexander Clay novels takes us to the island of Barbados, where the temperature of the politics, prejudices and amorous ambitions within society are only matched by the sweltering heat of the climate. After limping into the harbor of Barbados with his crippled frigate Agrius and accompanied by his French prize, Clay meets with Admiral Caldwell, the Commander in Chief of the island. The admiral is impressed enough by Clay's engagement with the French man of war to give him his own command.The Rush is sent first to blockade the French island of St Lucia, then to support a landing by British troops in an attempt to take the island from the French garrison. The crew and officers of the Rush are repeatedly threatened along the way by a singular Spanish ship, in a contest that can only end with destruction or capture. And all this time, hanging over Clay is an accusation of murder leveled against him by the nephew of his previous...

This is the third novel in the Alexander Clay seriesNewly promoted to Post Captain, Alexander Clay returns home from the Caribbean to recover from wounds sustained at the Battle of San Felipe. However, he is soon called upon by the Admiralty to take command of the frigate HMS Titan and join the blockade of the French coast. But the HMS Titan will be no easy command with its troubled crew that had launched a successful mutiny against its previous sadistic captain. Once aboard, Clay realizes he must confront the dangers of a fractious crew, rife with corrupt officers and disgruntled mutineers, if he is to have a united force capable of navigating the treacherous reefs of Brittany's notorious lee shore and successfully combating the French determined to break out of the blockade.Philip K Allan manages to move the reader effortlessly between the quarter deck officers and the lower deck men to paint a very convincing picture of life on a ship that is not only battling...

After a century of war, revolutions, and Imperial conquests, 1790s Europe is still embroiled in a battle for control of the sea and colonies. Tall ships navigate familiar and foreign waters, and ambitious young men without rank or status seek their futures in Naval commands. First Lieutenant Alexander Clay of HMS Agrius is self-made, clever, and ready for the new age. But the old world, dominated by patronage, retains a tight hold on advancement. Though Clay has proven himself many times over, Captain Percy Follett is determined to promote his own nephew.Before Clay finds a way to receive due credit for his exploits, he'll first need to survive them. Ill-conceived expeditions ashore, hunts for privateers in treacherous fog, and a desperate chase across the Atlantic are only some of the challenges he faces. He must endeavor to bring his ship and crew through a series of adventures stretching from the bleak coast of Flanders to the warm waters of the Caribbean. Only then...

Newly returned from the Battle of the Nile, Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are soon in action again, just when he has the strongest reason to wish to abide in England. But a powerful French naval squadron is at large in the Indian Ocean, attacking Britain’s vital East India trade. Together with his friend John Sutton, he is sent as part of the Royal Navy’s response. On route the Titan runs to ground a privateer preying on slave ships on the coast of West Africa, stirring up memories of the past for Able Sedgwick, Clay’s coxswain. They arrive in the Indian Ocean to find that danger lurks in the blue waters and on the palm-fringed islands. Old enemies with scores to settle mean that betrayal from amongst his own side may prove the hardest challenge Clay will face, and a dead man’s hand may yet undo all he has fought to win. Will the curse of the captain’s nephew never cease to bedevil Clay and his friends?   

Freshly back from a year in the Indian Ocean, it is not long before Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are in action once more. This time they are sent on a secret mission across the Channel. Amongst the forests and marshes of Southern Brittany, a Royalist rebellion is building and the Government at home is keen to support it. But as the uprising grows, Clay finds himself being drawn into a world of deception, intrigue and treachery. Who is the charismatic rebel leader, Count D'Arzon, and what is the secretive Major Fraser really up to? Meanwhile the settled community of the frigate's lower deck is disturbed by the arrival of a new recruit who appears to have strange mystical powers.

Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin return from India after almost two years away, impatient to see loved ones at home, but fate has other ideas. In the middle of the Atlantic they cross paths with a huge Franco-Spanish fleet on its way to the Caribbean, and find themselves drawn into one of the greatest naval campaigns in history. With the very survival of Britain at stake, Clay will need all his ability to help the Royal Navy win through. Triumph and tragedy await in equal measure as the fleets move towards a titanic clash fought off a rocky cape in southern Spain.

In 1798, the Royal British Navy withdrew from the Mediterranean to combat the threat of invasion at home. In their absence, rumors abound of a French Army gathering in the south of France under General Napoleon Bonaparte, and of a large fleet gathering to transport them. Alexander Clay and his ship, Titan, are sent to the Mediterranean to investigate. Clay verifies the troubling rumors but is unable to learn where the French fleet and the army will be heading. When Admiral Lord Nelson arrives from Britain with reinforcements, Clay and Titan join Nelson's fleet heading for Southern France. But on their arrival, they discover Bonaparte's fleet is gone, and Nelson, aware of the dangers of an ambitious and ruthless general, orders an all-out hunt for Bonaparte's armies before it is too late. As the Titan searches for Napoleon's forces, another threat has already gained passage on the ship. After engaging and destroying a Russian Privateer, the crew capture a mysterious stranger, claiming to be an English sailor who has been serving from childhood on Barbary ships. Shortly after he joins the ship, there begins a rash of thefts followed by the murder of another sailor. With the officers baffled as to who is behind this, it falls to Able Sedgwick, the Captain's coxswain and the lower deck to solve the crimes. (source: Bol.com)