Sails on the Horizon, by Jay Worrall

This is Worrall’s debut as a historical fiction writer. He tells the tale of Charles Edgemont, a very interesting and appealing hero who does Sails on the Horizon, by Jay Worrall naval battle with the French and their allies during the Napoleonic Wars.

In Sails on the Horizon, he starts out as a lowly lieutenant for a few pages. However, when his ship, the outdated line of the battle ship Argonaut, is ordered to sacrifice herself in an attempt to stall the Spanish fleet he is quickly elevated to master when his superiors fall in battle. Argonaut gives a good account of herself, even though she is completely wrecked. Edgemont refuses to strike his colors despite the overwhelming odds, and by holding out for a few crucial moments he influences the tide of the battle.

As a result of having done his job, young Charles finds himself a wealthy man due to the prize money he gets after the fight. As well, he is elevated to commander status on a permanent basis by Admiral Jarvis, even thought in his own eyes he does not deserve it.

He takes over a temporary command of a brig, whips her crew into shape and captures prizes while patrolling the Irish Sea. As well, he falls in love with a pretty and somewhat strange – but very interesting and beautiful - Quaker neighbor named Penelope Brown. And, being a rich man, he helps his brother out of his financial problems and buys himself a large property as well.

Aboard his new permanent command, the frigate, Louisa, Charles is assigned the task of making certain that the 40 gun Spanish frigate Santa Brigida is prevented from attacking British vessels outside the coast of Spain. As the Spanish ship outguns Charles frigate, he has to find a way of attacking the Spanish ship which can maximize his own odds, otherwise his chances will be slim indeed. He thinks he can see a way to do it, but will his plan hold?

Sails on the Horizon is very well-written, the battle scenes are engaging, the story is very appealing, and the hero and heroine are very likable. The book shows that Worrall has considerable expertise in ship and naval warfare history. The biggest minuses, to my mind, are perhaps that the plot is a little too smooth, and that there are some pretty historically unlikely events in the book. However, Sails on the Horizon is an excellent debut and a very, very entertaining read. Hardly a dull moment!

Links to Jay Worrall's books at amazon US, amazon UK, amazon CAN, and Bokkilden.

Any Approaching Enemy, by Jay Worrall

In this sequel to the wonderful Sails on the Horizon, it is now 1798, and young Charles Edgemont is captain of the 28-gun frigate HMS Louisa. France’s Napoleon Bonaparte, Any Approaching Enemy, by Jay Worrall winning on land and Britain controls the seas. But Napoleon mobilizes a large French fleet, and seeks to invade Egypt and possibly continue on to India and attack British possessions there.

Not knowing where the French fleet is going, Edgemont joins rear admiral Horatio Nelson's squadron in the Mediterranean to search for a the French fleet. Then a storm separates them, and Captain Charles Edgemont leads the Louisa and its companion brig Pylades on a treacherous voyage across the Mediterranean in search of Nelson. And while Edgemont searches for Nelson, he accidently learns the location of the French fleet at Alexandria, Egypt, from an English spy. After some misfortunes, Edgemont finally locates Nelson and goes with his fleet to Egypt. As we know, Nelson engages the French fleet there in one of the greatest naval battles ever - the Battle of the Nile.

Penny Edgemont, an independent, original and extremely strong willed Quaker, who played a prominent part in the first book, and gave it a lift. She appears in this book as well, visiting her husband on his ship. Here, however, I feel Worrall makes a little too much of her. Even though some of the scenes are funny and interesting – as when she states to her husband that she will "manage thy properties" and gives him a lesson – she interferes a little too much, very close to the point where she becomes a nuisance rather than an asset in the book.

Worrall knows nautical history well. His characters are good and interesting, even though he perhaps make a little too much of Penny this time. The plot is good as well. Even so, Any Approaching Enemy is not quite up to the standards set in the first novel in this nautical fiction series.


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