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Richard Bolitho #12
Ennemi en vue
Aboard the Hyperion, Richard Bolitho sets sail with an untrained crew for blockade duty off France. Unfortunately, his superior, Commodore Mathias Pelham-Martin, is an incompetent egotist whose petty hostilities jeopardize the operation of an entire fleet.
Paperback
First published December 31, 1969
112 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Kent
225 books196 followersA pseudonym used by Douglas Reeman.
Series:
* Richard Bolitho
* Adam Bolitho
Series:
* Richard Bolitho
* Adam Bolitho
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
January 8, 2019
What another fine story of British Captain Richard Bolitho. Once again fighting the French in the 1790. Great sea battle descriptions. He does lose his pregnant wife in a buggy accident. But I did figure out that Midshipman Adam will be the main character in the last 3 books of the series. He is Bolitho's nephew. There are 26 books in the series and this one was #12. If you like sea stories in the time of sail this is the series for you.
June 25, 2023
🌊 🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 A grand drama at sea as Captain Bolitho’s lost brother Hugh returns and Hugh’s son, who does not know the man is his father, winds up fighting at his side. Plot twists, intrigue, tragedy, romance and the roar of tall ship clashing with tall ship. 18th century naval fiction at its finest ⚓️⚓️⚓️
February 11, 2021
En esta ocasión Bolitho está haciendo el bloqueo a los puertos atlánticos franceses en el transcurso de la enésima guerra con Francia. Pero, esta vez le toca estar a las ordenes de un mentecato de comodoro que hará que nuestro protagonista tenga que llevar toda la iniciativa y enfrentarse tanto o más que al enemigo, a un cobarde superior.
Del canal al Caribe persiguiendo a la escuadra de un comandante francés que logra romper el bloqueo de su puerto y escapar con una misión enigmática en la que la pieza clave es tratar de mover los intereses de los Dons en su alianza con Inglaterra.
En este libro Bolitho tendrá también un episodio que le marcará mucho en su vida amorosa.
Del canal al Caribe persiguiendo a la escuadra de un comandante francés que logra romper el bloqueo de su puerto y escapar con una misión enigmática en la que la pieza clave es tratar de mover los intereses de los Dons en su alianza con Inglaterra.
En este libro Bolitho tendrá también un episodio que le marcará mucho en su vida amorosa.
April 10, 2009
Reading Alexander Kent's book is almost similar to reading all that gay romance which I plague my account. Everybody has Mary Sue, nice and hated girl who ruins the story to the the shreds of bad comedy, but just sometimes it is not true and when the girl is name Richard Bolitho and has the stray lock of hair in his face which gave him younger appearance you got a huge load of fun. There are several rules, which can be apply on whole Bolitho series. They are:
1. Richard Bolitho is reincarnation of Chuck Norris in Napoleonic era, do you copy?
2. Richard is semper victorius no exceptions ...ever.
3. Everybody who think otherwise to the rule 2 dies in the most horrid way you can imagine and being mashed by cannon ball is actually good way to die in this case.
4. Mr Kent must have some young adulthood trauma from the days when he worked and was not full time author aka the big bad boss rule. Bolitho has almost always bad boss to face aka load of stupid higher ranked officers who misjudge him, bully him, plague him, give him good taste of the therm bossing. Those officers usually ends in ...yes bloody pulp on the quarterdeck or dying from their wounds or insert here any contemporary and very gory way how to die and you have the superior officer possible ending. I think mr Kent must hate his former boss.
5. Women. Bolitho do not need them, right? well he has three or four to fuck but it is just for sake of his alternative live style of leash, sodomy and I would insert rum but Bolitho is not a drinker.
6. "My brother was traitor bwaaaaaaaaaah" phraze. Hugh, Richard, hippie and almost an American bro, had balls of steel until he met his fate by rule 1 and 2.
7. Bolitho has two kind of friends ... ass lickers or beloved brave deceased kind. Nobody is better then Dick if so the death is flying on the swift wings to the poor fellow. No exception unless see rule 8.
8. One captain survived this rule but looks like Freddy Krueger, fire can be bitch and he is not pretty like Richie Bolitho so no competition at all. Oh and another friend is fat. So mr Twoface and mr Fatty when going out with Bolitho were making Bolitho more stunning.
9. Richard Bolitho always suffer from the fate jest aka dead wife packed with unborn child in coach accident, wife who is bitch so he must have lover thus earning another load of society kicks
10. Ships old and leaking aka Richard's vessel of choice but this improves with higher rank.
11. Mix Horatio Nelson and Jack Aubrey DNA and you have Richard...well no... Richard beats them all see rule 1.
12. Even if Richard Bolitho behaves like utter bastard he is the good guy and he evil shaming is for good thing thus killing cheating is alright. No exception.
13. Richard Bolitho is fucked by his coxswain...regularly and because he is BIG Dick he is never caught. Ehm you know what authors mean by that deep male bonding and such, right?
This book was mix of all those and perhaps something more. I am going to pick another one and I hope it will be as funny as this. Well, naval action is there too but it is like cheap version of Master and commander series from Patrick O'Brian.
1. Richard Bolitho is reincarnation of Chuck Norris in Napoleonic era, do you copy?
2. Richard is semper victorius no exceptions ...ever.
3. Everybody who think otherwise to the rule 2 dies in the most horrid way you can imagine and being mashed by cannon ball is actually good way to die in this case.
4. Mr Kent must have some young adulthood trauma from the days when he worked and was not full time author aka the big bad boss rule. Bolitho has almost always bad boss to face aka load of stupid higher ranked officers who misjudge him, bully him, plague him, give him good taste of the therm bossing. Those officers usually ends in ...yes bloody pulp on the quarterdeck or dying from their wounds or insert here any contemporary and very gory way how to die and you have the superior officer possible ending. I think mr Kent must hate his former boss.
5. Women. Bolitho do not need them, right? well he has three or four to fuck but it is just for sake of his alternative live style of leash, sodomy and I would insert rum but Bolitho is not a drinker.
6. "My brother was traitor bwaaaaaaaaaah" phraze. Hugh, Richard, hippie and almost an American bro, had balls of steel until he met his fate by rule 1 and 2.
7. Bolitho has two kind of friends ... ass lickers or beloved brave deceased kind. Nobody is better then Dick if so the death is flying on the swift wings to the poor fellow. No exception unless see rule 8.
8. One captain survived this rule but looks like Freddy Krueger, fire can be bitch and he is not pretty like Richie Bolitho so no competition at all. Oh and another friend is fat. So mr Twoface and mr Fatty when going out with Bolitho were making Bolitho more stunning.
9. Richard Bolitho always suffer from the fate jest aka dead wife packed with unborn child in coach accident, wife who is bitch so he must have lover thus earning another load of society kicks
10. Ships old and leaking aka Richard's vessel of choice but this improves with higher rank.
11. Mix Horatio Nelson and Jack Aubrey DNA and you have Richard...well no... Richard beats them all see rule 1.
12. Even if Richard Bolitho behaves like utter bastard he is the good guy and he evil shaming is for good thing thus killing cheating is alright. No exception.
13. Richard Bolitho is fucked by his coxswain...regularly and because he is BIG Dick he is never caught. Ehm you know what authors mean by that deep male bonding and such, right?
This book was mix of all those and perhaps something more. I am going to pick another one and I hope it will be as funny as this. Well, naval action is there too but it is like cheap version of Master and commander series from Patrick O'Brian.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2008
Another Richard Bolitho naval story. The time covered is the end of 1794 to summer 1795 as the war with France continues to develop. Captain Richard Bolitho is in command of the ship of the line HYPERION and resumes blockade duty as part of a squardon. The French ships they are blockading break out and they are ordered to pursue them and destroy them. The mission takes them into the Caribbean and then back to the Bay of Biscay for the climatic battle. Again, it is Bolitho's leadership and skills that win the day for the British navy.
August 13, 2025
Six-word Review: Exciting, well-plotted, somewhat character-driven.
Longer review later
Longer review later
October 8, 2025
This book is fantastic! I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.
Where do I even start? I loved every single one of the characters. The writing was done so well; it's been a long time since I read a book where I felt so much alongside the characters. Each one had care put into them, and you can tell; they were layered and unique, and their human quirks gave such a personal spin to a military story that made it imposible to put down. I adored Richard, I felt so invested in his goals, and I loved how Pelham-Martin was written. I both kind of liked him, hated him, and he often made me facepalm.
I picked up this book from the middle of the series, not having read the others yet, but bonded with all of the characters from the first page. It's hard to describe how invested I was in them; I rejoiced with them, felt anxious for them, and even grieved alongside them; to the point where, over a week later, I still feel residual sadness for some of them.
This book is definitely readable, even for a lass who doesn't know much about battle strategies. I was able to keep up enough to understand everything, and all of the conflict was written so well it never gets boring.
A big point for me is that this book was surprisingly clean. Mr. Kent wrote compelling relationships with nothing dirty, and the swearing wasn't overdone, it stayed quite mild, if more often, even during the most tense scenes, so I appreciated that very much. It just added even more enjoyment to an already great book.
And everything was so vivid! The battle scenes are tense, and, well...I won't go into much detail so as to not spoil anything but WOW. Some things happen at the end that were just peak writing, I was hardly able to sleep because I was worried for the emotional and physical wellbeing of the characters.
My only, only complaint is the very ending. I wish it had just been a little happier of a resolution for Richard. I still feel sad when I think of it-but even then, it's so realistic. It represents the painfully real result of battles and war, and it fits. But it's still sad.
Over all? Amazing book! There's too many aspects I loved to cover. You can't understad how good it is until you go read it. Now.
Where do I even start? I loved every single one of the characters. The writing was done so well; it's been a long time since I read a book where I felt so much alongside the characters. Each one had care put into them, and you can tell; they were layered and unique, and their human quirks gave such a personal spin to a military story that made it imposible to put down. I adored Richard, I felt so invested in his goals, and I loved how Pelham-Martin was written. I both kind of liked him, hated him, and he often made me facepalm.
I picked up this book from the middle of the series, not having read the others yet, but bonded with all of the characters from the first page. It's hard to describe how invested I was in them; I rejoiced with them, felt anxious for them, and even grieved alongside them; to the point where, over a week later, I still feel residual sadness for some of them.
This book is definitely readable, even for a lass who doesn't know much about battle strategies. I was able to keep up enough to understand everything, and all of the conflict was written so well it never gets boring.
A big point for me is that this book was surprisingly clean. Mr. Kent wrote compelling relationships with nothing dirty, and the swearing wasn't overdone, it stayed quite mild, if more often, even during the most tense scenes, so I appreciated that very much. It just added even more enjoyment to an already great book.
And everything was so vivid! The battle scenes are tense, and, well...I won't go into much detail so as to not spoil anything but WOW. Some things happen at the end that were just peak writing, I was hardly able to sleep because I was worried for the emotional and physical wellbeing of the characters.
My only, only complaint is the very ending. I wish it had just been a little happier of a resolution for Richard. I still feel sad when I think of it-but even then, it's so realistic. It represents the painfully real result of battles and war, and it fits. But it's still sad.
Over all? Amazing book! There's too many aspects I loved to cover. You can't understad how good it is until you go read it. Now.
December 17, 2019
I've read the German translation several times, as the Bolitho series is one of my favourites among the Naval fiction series, and one of my favourite volumes of it. This was also my first time reading the original, and I must say I enjoyed it more than the translation: the narrative seems to flow much better, and it didn't seem to have the often quoted blandness and repetitiveness of the Bolitho novels in their German translation, and the long dry hauls of the narrative.
October 11, 2021
Stirring Action at Sea
This is the 10th installment in this series with some of the best action at sea so far. With some important themes of:
: Command responsibility
: Quality leadership
: The questionable loyalty of crews “pressed” into service in the Royal Navy
: The continuous threat of a French invasion during the Napoleonic war
The author hammers home these themes while simultaneously driving the story of Richard Bolitho forward at a quick pace. Moving along at a quickened tempo there is enough action and drama to satisfy any armchair reader of historical naval action.
The author’s use of historic naval sailing terms can be a little difficult for readers not familiar with the terminology, but the reader will be rewarded with a story by an author who is in complete control of his story.
This is the 10th installment in this series with some of the best action at sea so far. With some important themes of:
: Command responsibility
: Quality leadership
: The questionable loyalty of crews “pressed” into service in the Royal Navy
: The continuous threat of a French invasion during the Napoleonic war
The author hammers home these themes while simultaneously driving the story of Richard Bolitho forward at a quick pace. Moving along at a quickened tempo there is enough action and drama to satisfy any armchair reader of historical naval action.
The author’s use of historic naval sailing terms can be a little difficult for readers not familiar with the terminology, but the reader will be rewarded with a story by an author who is in complete control of his story.
January 24, 2023
Very good, twisty-turny realistic naval action. Can't say too much without giving spoilers. No five stars because at times I had trouble physically picturing the action in my mind because of inadequate descriptions. That was in part due to sketchy ebook formatting. The original book was evidently scanned to make the ebook. However, all the words hyphenated at the end of lines in the original turn up as two words in the ebook. This could have been corrected with less than an hour of work by a search in Word. More serious, all the paragraphs are now separated by single lines. That is okay, but the major scene breaks are also single lines. That means the reader loses a major clue that a new scene at a later time is now starting, which is momentarily confusing and takes the reader out of the story.
April 20, 2023
Now this is more like it. I really enjoyed this one.
After reading two more-recently written books about Alexander Kent's Bolitho adventures, this is one of the earlier-wriitten "original" series. And it's immediately obvious in the better character development, the longer descriptive paragraphs, the less touchy-feely characterisation of leadership and a more complex but more believable main storyline. Weaving strategy, leadership and psychology into a number of secondary storylines (Adam and his unrecognised father, a recalcitrant Commodore, realistic naval strategy and tactics, the French enemy and stirring sea battles against the odds) this comes nearer to my Gold Standard of Forester's Hornblower books.
So, the next in the Bolitho chronology is "The Flag Captain". Bring it on!!
After reading two more-recently written books about Alexander Kent's Bolitho adventures, this is one of the earlier-wriitten "original" series. And it's immediately obvious in the better character development, the longer descriptive paragraphs, the less touchy-feely characterisation of leadership and a more complex but more believable main storyline. Weaving strategy, leadership and psychology into a number of secondary storylines (Adam and his unrecognised father, a recalcitrant Commodore, realistic naval strategy and tactics, the French enemy and stirring sea battles against the odds) this comes nearer to my Gold Standard of Forester's Hornblower books.
So, the next in the Bolitho chronology is "The Flag Captain". Bring it on!!
March 12, 2023
This book is probably the first one of Alexander Kent's that I read. And that would have been back in the 1970s given to me as a present so it is difficult to be sure.
It follows the standard format for the author's books in general with the book ending with a large sea battle.
I rate it so highly because it lead me to purchase and read the rest of the series of the following years.
If you like naval warfare in the Golden Age of Sail then this is a series for you.
It follows the standard format for the author's books in general with the book ending with a large sea battle.
I rate it so highly because it lead me to purchase and read the rest of the series of the following years.
If you like naval warfare in the Golden Age of Sail then this is a series for you.
August 23, 2024
Enemy in Sight
That was quite extraordinary, an amazing thrilling read which had me totally engrossed. I have to say that for me, that must be Mr Kent’s best story yet. A full detailed description of what it must have been like to fight another ship to a standstill with those huge guns blazing and men dying all around. Quite stunning. I loved every page. Thank you Mr Kent, I’m hooked, more please!
That was quite extraordinary, an amazing thrilling read which had me totally engrossed. I have to say that for me, that must be Mr Kent’s best story yet. A full detailed description of what it must have been like to fight another ship to a standstill with those huge guns blazing and men dying all around. Quite stunning. I loved every page. Thank you Mr Kent, I’m hooked, more please!
January 26, 2022
first class
As a former RN Seaman Gunner I say this author knows the Navy and the sea , totally understanding the methods of sail.
It is a common misunderstanding in films that these Men of War ships turned the wheel and the ship moved, it took a while to adjust
The sails before she responded.
This author knows that!
Well recommended.
As a former RN Seaman Gunner I say this author knows the Navy and the sea , totally understanding the methods of sail.
It is a common misunderstanding in films that these Men of War ships turned the wheel and the ship moved, it took a while to adjust
The sails before she responded.
This author knows that!
Well recommended.
January 6, 2021
An okay Bolitho book which finds him on blockade duty outside a French port during the Napoleonic Wars. When a French convoy escapes them Bolitho and his mercurial supervisor are sent to the Caribbean to investigate and put an end to whatever plan the French admiral has.
April 18, 2021
Pure comfort zone for me when reading this author - so easy to get lost in his books even though I have read them all over the years. This one is number 12 of the whole series and still enjoying the experience.
June 19, 2022
An enjoyable romp from Europe to the Caribbean and back again...lots of action, though Kent's facility for description of the action has temporarily deserted him and it was a little difficult to follow at times. Great book nonetheless, if you like the Age of Sail novel.
July 31, 2023
Packed with Action and continuous drama, this book is a must-read for any naval-fiction enthusiast out there! Remarkable storytelling by Kent, and a classic read for ease of mind and profound on-the-go adrenaline-filled plot.
July 27, 2017
It was a great read for me enjoyed the heck out of it.
February 7, 2018
Meets nephew - Midshipman Pascoe -- and secretly reunites with brother who was unaware of progeny.
March 5, 2018
Death and disaster
It's surprising how we British managed to win so many battles and rule the waves with so many incompetent admirals in charge. Luckily we had Bolitho as well.
It's surprising how we British managed to win so many battles and rule the waves with so many incompetent admirals in charge. Luckily we had Bolitho as well.
December 8, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, which is surprising because it isn't the type of book I usually read. I would certainly recommend this book for others
May 5, 2020
Full-on excitement from cover to cover!
January 31, 2021
Not a bad book. Drew together a number of story lines from past books quite well. Enjoyed the plot.
March 20, 2021
Very good and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it even more had I read the 11 preceding books...
Great characters and very good action scenes.
Great characters and very good action scenes.
March 21, 2021
This seemed far more disjointed than the others in the series with some really odd pacing
September 14, 2021
A thoroughly enjoyable adventure.
May 4, 2022
Action-packed from start to finish. Excellent.
November 19, 2022
Full of action. I can't put these books down. It's ruining my sleep - up until 1:30 am last night!
August 15, 2023
Another exciting adventure but turning dark
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews