Seth Hunter's "The Tide of War" is the second volume in what is sure to be an engaging series of novels following the exploits of young, handsome, and sexually active Nathaniel Peake, the James Bond of the quarterdeck. This novel is a significant step forward in quality for Hunter, although I still found his prose to be problematic in places. For example there is the name-dropping as mentioned by other reviewers although that has diminished from the first book, but there was also an odd occurrence towards the end of Chapter 14 where two characters are mentioned as being part of the scene but are clearly not actually part of the scene; one is on another ship and the other is missing, whereabouts unknown to the reader. As with any work, these jarring events pull you out of the scene and lessen the enjoyment.
In general though, the work stands well against the Hornblower, Ramage, or Bolitho novels, but does not ultimately rise to the level of O’Brian, Renault, or Dunnett, though I do not think this was the author’s intention. Starting in England after Peake’s narrow escape from the “Terror” of revolutionary France , Nathaniel is promoted to Post Captain and sent off to the West Indies station to claim his ship. As with the first novel, there is a fair amount of spy work and intrigue before a series of obligatory, but brief sea battles to bring the narrative to an end. An enjoyable and quick read of a reasonably well crafted novel filled with workman-like prose and forgettable characters.
