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Alan Lewrie #24
An Onshore Storm
From reigning master of martime fiction Dewey Lambdin comes the latest in the Alan Lewrie naval series, An Onshore Storm, where Lewrie will take on his roughest adventure: maritime life beyond the navy
For over twenty years, Dewey Lambdin's devoted fans have followed the adventures of Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, from his days as a midshipmen to captain of his own ship and, though on somewhat dubious grounds, a baronetcy.
Lewrie is looking for a new transport and a new crew, and this time he doesn't have the aid of an Admiralty official with a deep government purse or written orders, or even access to dockyards back in England.
No matter how gloomy the prospects are, though, Lewrie will persevere; he'll not admit defeat or failure, for that would both sting his pride and give his enemies satisfaction that he's finally come a cropper.
For over twenty years, Dewey Lambdin's devoted fans have followed the adventures of Alan Lewrie, Royal Navy, from his days as a midshipmen to captain of his own ship and, though on somewhat dubious grounds, a baronetcy.
Lewrie is looking for a new transport and a new crew, and this time he doesn't have the aid of an Admiralty official with a deep government purse or written orders, or even access to dockyards back in England.
No matter how gloomy the prospects are, though, Lewrie will persevere; he'll not admit defeat or failure, for that would both sting his pride and give his enemies satisfaction that he's finally come a cropper.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2018
206 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
About the author
Dewey Lambdin
70 books278 followersDewey Lambdin (1945-2021 ) was an American nautical historical novelist. He was best known for his Alan Lewrie naval adventure series, set during the Napoleonic Wars. Besides the Alan Lewrie series, he was also the author of What Lies Buried: a novel of Old Cape Fear.
A self-proclaimed "Navy Brat," Lambdin spent a good deal of his early days on both coasts of the U.S.A., and overseas duty stations, with his father. His father enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in 1930, was "mustanged" from the lower deck (from Yeoman chief Petty Officer) at Notre Dame in '42, and was career Navy until May of 1954, when he was killed at sea aboard the USS Bennington CVA-20 (see below), on which he served as Administrative Officer, 5th in line-of-command (posthumous Lieutenant Commander).
Lambdin himself attended Castle Heights Military Academy, graduated in 1962, and was destined to be the family's first "ring-knocker" from the U.S. Naval Academy, "... until he realised that physics, calculus, and counting higher than ten were bigger than he was."[1] He studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Liberal arts and Theatre, where he was published in The Theme Vault in 1963, also reprinted in a national textbook, which whetted his appetite for writing. However, he failed his degree. He finally graduated with a degree in Film & TV Production from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1969. This was considered at the time to be the McHale's Navy of the academic set, so the nautical influence was still at work. He has worked for a network affiliate TV station as a producer/director for twelve years, an independent station as production manager and senior director/writer/ producer for three years, all in Memphis, and as a writer/producer with a Nashville advertising/production facility, or in free-lance camera, lighting and writing.
He has been a sailor since 1976 and spends his free time working and sailing on his beloved sloop Wind Dancer, with a special taste for cruising the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Lambdin has thus far resisted the temptation to trade his beloved typewriter for a computer. He lived in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Friend of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; Cousteau Society; the former American Film Institute; and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
-Wikipedia
Mr Lambdin passed away on July 26, 2021 at the age of 76.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/deweyl...
A self-proclaimed "Navy Brat," Lambdin spent a good deal of his early days on both coasts of the U.S.A., and overseas duty stations, with his father. His father enlisted as a Seaman Recruit in 1930, was "mustanged" from the lower deck (from Yeoman chief Petty Officer) at Notre Dame in '42, and was career Navy until May of 1954, when he was killed at sea aboard the USS Bennington CVA-20 (see below), on which he served as Administrative Officer, 5th in line-of-command (posthumous Lieutenant Commander).
Lambdin himself attended Castle Heights Military Academy, graduated in 1962, and was destined to be the family's first "ring-knocker" from the U.S. Naval Academy, "... until he realised that physics, calculus, and counting higher than ten were bigger than he was."[1] He studied at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, majoring in Liberal arts and Theatre, where he was published in The Theme Vault in 1963, also reprinted in a national textbook, which whetted his appetite for writing. However, he failed his degree. He finally graduated with a degree in Film & TV Production from Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1969. This was considered at the time to be the McHale's Navy of the academic set, so the nautical influence was still at work. He has worked for a network affiliate TV station as a producer/director for twelve years, an independent station as production manager and senior director/writer/ producer for three years, all in Memphis, and as a writer/producer with a Nashville advertising/production facility, or in free-lance camera, lighting and writing.
He has been a sailor since 1976 and spends his free time working and sailing on his beloved sloop Wind Dancer, with a special taste for cruising the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Lambdin has thus far resisted the temptation to trade his beloved typewriter for a computer. He lived in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, a Friend of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England; Cousteau Society; the former American Film Institute; and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
-Wikipedia
Mr Lambdin passed away on July 26, 2021 at the age of 76.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/deweyl...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 27, 2022
Only one more of these in prospect. Our Alan has some age on him, and he's swash-buckling a little less now, pining for his good wife, and being a brilliant leader while harassing the Frogs along the Catanian coast. Great fun.
April 7, 2022
Books 23 and 24 are one long story starting with some very nice scenes of Lewrie’s recently discovered domestic bliss with his young wife in their newly acquired house. Sir Alan has certainly matured or aged and perhaps his ramcat days are over. He lobbies for a new ship and because of his experience with amphibious actions he is invited to present a plan to the Admiralty. His plan is accepted and he is given a new ship, a 64 gunner and a fleet of transports and an army regiment and they begin operations on the boot of Italy with intelligence provided by Mr. Quill. At this point the book almost becomes a procedural and after 20+ books and with the Napoleonic Wars heading toward a conclusion the author might be running out of ideas. Yet I am hanging in there with a daily dose of John Lee reading in his brilliant style and wondering what I will read next now that I have binged these books exclusively for months. At this point it is almost an addiction and I would probably keep reading them as long as they were available. The death of the author a couple years ago has sadly brought an end to the saga. Like most sagas the coming of age portion is most interesting and compelling. We root for our hero to become successful and achieve renown. This happened really in the middle of the series so for many books Lewrie has been Sir Alan Lewrie, Baronet, a sort of famous frigate captain who has rubbed shoulders with kings and emperors, put a leg over many a winsome lass and killed more people in hand to hand combat than Jack Reacher or John Wick. 23 and 24 almost seem like a procedural for early amphibious landings and there’s not a whole lot the author can do to make them thrilling or fascinating. Normally the stories are told from Lewrie’s POV but when the forces goes ashore we switch to British Army Colonel Tennant’s or Lewrie’s marine captain’s POV. To make the tale a bit more interesting Lambdin adds a problem Lieutenant Dixon a haughty aristocrat type who arrives with a new troop carrier and displays poor management skills. Lewrie relieves him of his command and moves him to Vigilance as fourth lieutenant.
I should note that there are always pets to talk about in the stories. Lewrie has had three cats (William Pitt, Toulon and Chalky and a dog named Biscuit who didn’t come on this voyage. Chalky is the only cat still living). Lewrie’s servant keeps a pet rabbit in Lewrie’s cabin and Colonel Tennant, prominent in these two books has adopted a dog who often makes a nuisance of himself. There are also many descriptions of meals throughout the book. Lewrie has had Joville as a his private chef for many books now and he seemed to put out some fine meals aboard ship especially when they had access to fresh food from bum boats or shopping ashore. As book 24 comes to an end we learn that Dixon has been writing negative reports to his mentors and sponsors who also, for unexplained reasons, are enemies of Lewrie. The handwriting is on the wall: Lewrie will be losing his command even though his amphibious landings have been most successful.
I should note that there are always pets to talk about in the stories. Lewrie has had three cats (William Pitt, Toulon and Chalky and a dog named Biscuit who didn’t come on this voyage. Chalky is the only cat still living). Lewrie’s servant keeps a pet rabbit in Lewrie’s cabin and Colonel Tennant, prominent in these two books has adopted a dog who often makes a nuisance of himself. There are also many descriptions of meals throughout the book. Lewrie has had Joville as a his private chef for many books now and he seemed to put out some fine meals aboard ship especially when they had access to fresh food from bum boats or shopping ashore. As book 24 comes to an end we learn that Dixon has been writing negative reports to his mentors and sponsors who also, for unexplained reasons, are enemies of Lewrie. The handwriting is on the wall: Lewrie will be losing his command even though his amphibious landings have been most successful.
October 17, 2025
This book is strangely uneven. First it starts off for quite a long time going as you'd expect. The olde English takes a little while to get used to but it's overall quite good at first. There's some unnecessary profanity but not much. Then the book suddenly turns into a steamy romance novel. Those have their place of course. But noone would be expecting this from the book's description on the jacket at all, or even briefly leafing through a little before buying. Probably a product of either the author running out of ideas after apparently writing so many books on one character. Or possibly the editor telling the author to make the book more "interesting". This is the first of this series I've read so I don't know if the others are like this or not. It makes for an extremely uneven novel that people will put on the back burner or even give up on, with it ending up being completely different from what they were expecting
May 31, 2018
The twenty-fourth rollocking sea adventure with Captain Sir Alan Lewrie, Baronet and his crew of the Vigilance finds them off the coast Italy dealing with the army, Italian thieves, British secret agent The French (of course) but the newest winkle in his life is an unseen enemy. Certain members of the Admiralty who are jealous of our fine Captain Lewrie and wish to cut him down six or ten pegs. What more a new ship with new Commander who is not ready to handle the delicate job of command, hates Lewrie with a passion.
As always Lambdin shows why he's one of greats in Nautical fiction. weaving a masterful story steeped in logical of the Era of Napoleon and the days of Wooden Ships and Iron Men. Always at the top of my list of authors to read.
As always Lambdin shows why he's one of greats in Nautical fiction. weaving a masterful story steeped in logical of the Era of Napoleon and the days of Wooden Ships and Iron Men. Always at the top of my list of authors to read.
January 19, 2019
Alan Lewrie is at it again. This time he is making life for the French in Italy very unpleasant. Teamed with an Army unit, the 94th, Lewrie is staging raids on the coast of Italy against French supply convoys and one pesky bridge. But all is not sweetness in the British camp. They have a spy, who likes money more than being patriotic, and a ship captain, who is out to sink Lewrie with the Admiralty in London. As usual you get a good look at the way the military operates. This is a Lewrie that can't be missed.
November 5, 2018
You must know what you're getting by now, right? This adventure is a land-troops-on-shore-to-fight sort of installment, which I like a bit less than the find-another-ship-and-blast-the-hell-out-of-it installments, but it's not bad. Especially notable is the addition of a jumped-up aristocratic young lieutenant whom Lewrey has to take down a peg. Hopefully we'll be seeing Lt. Dickson come for a bit of revenge in the future.
June 5, 2018
We all age, some more gracefully than others.
A fitting continuation of the saga of Capt Lewrie. Good action sequences. Interesting shipboard highlights. Glad to see Chalky is still around for company. Two antagonists in this volume, one of whom we'll see again I'm sure. But "Ram Cat" has survived before and I am sure will again. I enjoyed this book. Hope you will too.
A fitting continuation of the saga of Capt Lewrie. Good action sequences. Interesting shipboard highlights. Glad to see Chalky is still around for company. Two antagonists in this volume, one of whom we'll see again I'm sure. But "Ram Cat" has survived before and I am sure will again. I enjoyed this book. Hope you will too.
November 16, 2020
This series just gets better and better!
Having now read all 24 books of this series that have been released for Kindle I have to say that the Mr Lambdin has really grown into his writing. The great storytelling has been there since book 1 but the reading has become smoother and much more difficult to find a good place to take a rest.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
Having now read all 24 books of this series that have been released for Kindle I have to say that the Mr Lambdin has really grown into his writing. The great storytelling has been there since book 1 but the reading has become smoother and much more difficult to find a good place to take a rest.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
September 17, 2022
Continues the story from the previous book. Lewrie is now putting into action his plans for amphibious landings and harassment of Spanish and now French positions on the Italian coast. One of his new skippers is a newly advanced and not very good aristocrat. Lewrie relieves him of his command and begins to train him. The attempts to discredit Lewrie continue in spite of his successes.
December 18, 2024
You can tell the series is coming to an end. Books 23 & 24 tell a single story, introduce some new characters and continue the maturing of no-longer young Alan Lewrie.
That being said, I look forward to #25 with a heavy heart. It's been fun knowing Sir Alan Lewrie, Baronet, over all these years and adventures.
That being said, I look forward to #25 with a heavy heart. It's been fun knowing Sir Alan Lewrie, Baronet, over all these years and adventures.
June 1, 2018
Another bold adventure of Alan Lewrie
Alan Lewrie finds action once again in the latest book in the series. His masterful treatment of his officers and crew serve him well.
A fun read.
Alan Lewrie finds action once again in the latest book in the series. His masterful treatment of his officers and crew serve him well.
A fun read.
June 2, 2018
Outstanding as usual.
Lewrie goes amphibious. The repeated landing get a bit tedious but overall another fine Capt. Lewrie adventure. Lambson does it again! Only depressed that another year or so has to go by for the continuing saga to deliver another adventure.
Lewrie goes amphibious. The repeated landing get a bit tedious but overall another fine Capt. Lewrie adventure. Lambson does it again! Only depressed that another year or so has to go by for the continuing saga to deliver another adventure.
June 16, 2019
Dewey Lambdin has brought back life to the Alan Lewrie series. The book held my interest from page 1, even though the battle scenes are limited. Of course that is military life, hurry up and wait and then a short time of hell, and then back to waiting. Looking forward to the next book.
February 11, 2020
Good, but something missing from previous adventures
Low on action compared with the previous books in the series. Lewrie is regulated planning actions to execute and not actually taking part. Seems to be a watered down version of his previous adventures.
Low on action compared with the previous books in the series. Lewrie is regulated planning actions to execute and not actually taking part. Seems to be a watered down version of his previous adventures.
August 10, 2021
Good detail
I always enjoy Lamdin’s books, he researches the minutiae of the time and place, which gives credence to his sometimes incredible situations. This novel details the time [Napoleonic Wars] and the Royal Navy of that time.
I always enjoy Lamdin’s books, he researches the minutiae of the time and place, which gives credence to his sometimes incredible situations. This novel details the time [Napoleonic Wars] and the Royal Navy of that time.
June 24, 2018
Dewey, you can't die!
And he'd better be writing fast. It's important we move on. He just can't leave my favorite hero in this situation! 😄
And he'd better be writing fast. It's important we move on. He just can't leave my favorite hero in this situation! 😄
August 10, 2018
Seafaring stories at their best!
March 4, 2019
Good story but I want more of the old Lewrie
June 29, 2019
Too k=much time taken up with amphibian operations between he and the Army. too boring.
April 4, 2022
Alan needs to go to work for Secret Branch, he is a rouge at heart.
November 10, 2023
Edge of the seat action once more, continuing a great, GREAT, series!
April 8, 2024
Very enjoyable, but with length of time between book, it's a little hard to recall background characters.
November 21, 2025
Listened to book while taking my daily walk. Nice naval adventure story.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews