Sea of Grey

By: Dewey Lambdin

Narrated by: John Lee

Our rakish hero, Alan Lewrie, is in trouble with his wife, condemned by his daughter, and out of favor with the Admiralty. He is lucky enough to receive a command position on an expedition to the West Indies, there to suppress a bloodthirsty slave rebellion led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, the future father of Haitian independence. In Haiti, L'Ouverture's forces are sacking plantations and slaughtering whites and mulattoes. The French make a hasty compact with the English, as only the English have the strength required to stop L'Ouverture and his general Dessalines. Needless to say, Lewrie finds plenty of engagements, both of the naval and the romantic kind; between white-hot battles, a bevy of international beauties sees to his every fleshly comfort. Author Lambdin puts the "buckle" in "swashbuckle".Raise anchor! Listen to more of Alan Lewrie's nautical adventures.©2002 Dewey Lambdin (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The lively pace and white-knuckle battle scenes should make this another winner." (Publishers Weekly)

Great fun!

Great fun! A good swashbuckling yarn. I ended up doing a lot of googling about yellow fever, Hati, and other historical materials discussed in the book. I didn't really like the start of the book, but then got into it in a serious way. I wish there were more of Lambdin's books on audible. John Lee does a very good job of narrating.

Enjoyable

I am a bit hesitant to comment on any maritime historical fiction aside from O'Brian's books as they tend to pale by comparison. But this book held my attention and I do recommend it. My only personal complaint is that for the time period of this story there was NO Revenue Cutter "Trumbull". The USS Trumbull, at this time, was an 18 gun sloop-of-war (for the US, this meant an under-sized three-masted ship with anywhere from 18 to 24 guns on a single gun deck - the British had a different system) built /launched in Norwich, Connecticut to serve in the Quasi-War of the US vs France. In May 1801 she was sold into private merchant service as part of the Peace Establishment downsizing of the US Navy after the close of the Quasi-War. Most listeners won't care, but naval and Coast Guard historians will chafe at the repeated mistake.

Great Book!

I'm a huge fan of Dewey Lambdin! this book had it all! I recommend starting from the beginning.

Solid Nautical Fiction Book

If you are are nautical fiction fan, you won't be disappointed with this audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life with a variety of accents -British, American, French, Jamaican etc. As an avid reader of this genre, there is no comparison to P. O'Brian's masterpieces but this is a good adventure that will give you a glimpse of life in the Royal Navy in the late 1700s. The only compliant I had with this one is that I felt as if I had intruded into the middle of the author's character development for Captain Lewrie. This was indeed the 10th book in the series for this character! Wish audible would have started with the first one.

Always great tales

The captain always delivers, I never tire of the Ram Cat’s escapades! Can’t wait to read of the next adventure

Another fine author for the RN junkie

Dewey Lambdin helps to fill the void left by the passing of Patrick O'Brien. His adventures (and misadventures) of Alan Lewrie, RN ring a familiar note for the die hard devotee of the Royal Navy and the exploits of its officers and men during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. I think what makes reading these stories particularly enjoyable is the knowledge that no matter how audacious the actions of the heroes, they are usually based on events that actually happened and were recorded in logs and diaries by the officers who participated in them.

Interesting backdrop of the sugar islands history

Would you listen to Sea of Grey again? Why?

Probably not as I never "reread" a book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peel

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

Lewrie

If you could rename Sea of Grey, what would you call it?

?

Any additional comments?

I have listened to all the lewrie books on tape and have read some of the others. I wish audible would have all the books on tape.

Comes after King's Captain. Buy that book hardcopy

or you'll miss on part of what's happened in this one. The domestic junk with Caroline starts in that book, but he is able to postpone the enevitable. Lewrie's success with Jester and the high lofty praise it wins him gets him promoted to post captain at last, He's forced to fight his first battle with his new frigate, Proteus, on her very decks his at the Nore Mutiny. By the by, Proteus is also blessed by very interesting Celtic God doings from the first...but this is a review of Sea of Grey.

I don't like the gruesome war over Sant Domingue but Lewrie gets to renew his friendship with Kit Cashman. The chaw-bacon clan of Beauman and Lewrie aren't done yet! Cashman and Lewrie conspire and free a dozen slaves belonging to that macaroni fop Ledyard Beauman in revenge for ruining Kit's miliary career and finanial holdings in Jamaica. I s'pose the warish bits with Sant Domingue are necessary, but these are particularly icky. He doesn't have to fight on shore this time, but his crew's Yellow Fever come from being too close in and Cashman's lads are booted up the ass, I guess I always like the sea-based battles vs. anything Lewrie's had to do on land, other than the women, of course. And his meeting with the lovely and oh so friendly Henriette...well goes without saying. Sounds like it's Lewrie's first encounter with a bit of the "tar brush" as Cashman crudely puts it, and why not?...Don't the Cherekee, the Chinese, the Hindu and we cannot forget the Greek knock-out who bore him a son, They all need a bit of company on the spice list.

The set up for Havoc's Sword is masterful, as any lover of series novels (especially this one) will tell you. Overall it's not my favorite, but I'd not miss it for how it fits in to the rest. Face it, if you're reading this, you're hooked.

Another great book

Would you consider the audio edition of Sea of Grey to be better than the print version?

The characters and the plots of the story are very entertaining

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sea of Grey?

Many scenes both made me laugh and cry

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have listened to many readers and Mr John Lee is without a bout one of the very best

If you could take any character from Sea of Grey out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Allen of course to chat about his many adventures

Any additional comments?

Look forward to reading the next one

Excellent

Wish they would make the rest of the series available!
John Lee is one of my favorites!
Two thumbs up!