Keane's Charge

Keane #3

by Iain Gale

'Wonderfully imaginative' Bernard Cornwell, author of The Last Kingdom. The third exciting adventure of maverick spy Captain James Keane. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell.The intrepid band of warriors, led by Captain James Keane, have been given their toughest job yet. The Portuguese university city of Coimbra is in ruins. Infiltrating the streets are untrustworthy Spanish guerrilla fighters, local Portuguese out for revenge and rival spies determined to find the famous book of ciphers, hidden in the city and guarded by a dissident Jesuit group. James Keane and his men must prevent the book falling into enemy hands but also to discover which of the guerrilla groups can be trusted. But this means sometimes following their own instincts over Wellington's orders . . . can Keane capture the book without sacrificing his honour, position and reputation?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Iain Gale has always had a passion for military history. He is the Editor of the National Trust for Scotland magazine and Art critic for Scotland on Sunday. He lives outside Edinburgh with his wife and children. His first novel, Four Days in June, is a stand-alone military adventure set on the battlefields of Waterloo.

He is also the writer of eleven non-fiction books.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book is the 3rd volume of the excellent James Keane series.
The book contains a well documented historical note at the end of the book, with quite some clear explanations about certain military decisions and actions, while at the beginning of the book you'll find a well-drawn map of Portugal into which this story refers to.
Storytelling is of a very good quality, for the author has made it possible to let the tale flow in an exciting and enjoyable manner, while at the same time his characters are very believable and they come wonderful to life within this excellent story.
The tale itself is set in the year AD 1810, during the Peninsular War that was fought between Britain and France of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
In this period of war General Wellington has to fight not only factions and in-fighting in Whitehall, but he has also a formidable enemy in Marshal Massena, who Wellington has to defeat if he wants to achieve his goal on Portuguese soil and fame in England and its Government.
Within this turmoil of this particular war, James Keane and his men have to infiltrate behind the lines of the enemy, before being able to supply General Wellington of the necessary intelligence to ensure him of the chance of that important victory over the French, while at the same time having to search and locate an invaluable book of ciphers in Coimbra.
And so James Keane and his men not only have to fight off different kind of factions, from either within or without, but also of layers of deceit and deceptions, whether they are spies or local fighters if they want to succeed in their mission by finding that invaluable book of ciphers without also getting distracted and involved by the trail of Massena's gold.
Surely recommended, for this book is really "A Gripping Historical Charge"!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed some of Iain Gale's other books set in the Second War, I thought I would dip into his Keane series of books set in the Napoleonic Wars. It is difficult to get away from the Sharpe books when reading this. The similarities are clear, but the writing isn't quite as crisp (I so wanted to write 'sharp' here) as Cornwall's. Having said that, it was an enjoyable read with just enough of a back story to make me look forward to following Keane and his men in other books of the series.

[Mike Hedley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with other reviews, this fast -paced novel is not up top Bernard Cornwell standards. The basic idea is fantastic, explorer corps who can have a wide range of exciting scenarios and duties. My main issue with this book is the number of plot errors. Keane's mate Tom is said to have been killed by the spy McNab, when he was killed in action by a cannonball. In a meeting with Trant, Sanchez turns up and mentions Kean's fowling piece again. We're told that Keane won it back from Sanchez at cards, when in the previous volume Keane stole a fine horse from Massena and swapped it for his beloved gun. There are other errors which have taken away from the pleasure of reading the first two novels gave. Still an enjoyable read, just disappointing that an author cannot keep track of the plot of previous novels.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The action in this story comes fast and hard. The main plot revolves around the search for a book. That is being sought by both the French and British. Keane has to deal with the French, guerrillas, irregular Portuguese forces led by an English officer, and McNab the traitor from previous books. Oh did I mention Keane has to help steal a convoy of good from the French. All of this and a little romance thrown makes for an enjoyable adventure. My only complaint is as before Gale loses track of the rank of men in the story every so often.

[Henry G Petrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dissapointing

I have enjoyed Keane's exploits until now. The plot is too wound up in a Book! A good proof reader would also help. The ranks of various characters is confusing e.g. One of the Students is referred to as a captain and also as a lieutenant. The constant reference to the "duke" meaning Wellington is also very wrong. He didn't become a Duke until 1814, several years later. These very simple errors accompanied by the plot does not make this one of Iain Gales better efforts. If the next one in the series is similar it will be my last.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slightly lighter version of Sharpe but still good reading.

[Les Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as a Sharp novel by a long way. Iain Gales style beginning to annoy me. Seems as though he's getting too formulaic. Not one of his better novels

[Stuart Henderson]

Great follow on action from 1/2 books.

This
is part of a four book series and they follow-up on the previous books
5 star base the book's are a must for action junkies.