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Alexander Clay #8
Larcum Mudge
On a hot night in the Caribbean, a lone Royal Navy ship commanded by a sadistic captain, succumbs to bloody mutiny. With the Peace of Amiens imminent, Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin are sent to track down and recapture the rebel ship. But when they arrive in the Leeward Islands, they find that much more is at stake. Smuggling and corruption seem to be rife in those sunlit waters, while ghosts from the past stir in the shadows. The discovery of a hidden French ship of the line, threatening to cut loose and devastate British commerce, will test Clay and his crew to the limit. And who is Larcum Mudge, the mysterious new recruit who has joined the crew of the Griffin?
303 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 19, 2020
203 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Philip K. Allan
20 books408 followersI am from the UK where I live with my wife and daughters. My writing combines my passion for ships and the sea, with intelligent writing and pacey plots.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 21, 2020
HM Sloop Peregrine is an unhappy vessel. Her captain brooks not the slightest infraction, and punishment almost always involves the cat. The discontent on the lower deck foments into mutiny and once in control, the mutineers and ship vanish in the Caribbean, with no one wise to the brutal and bloody slaughter because they assume the ship went down during a hurricane.
With repairs to HM Frigate Griffin almost complete, Captain Alexander Clay attends to the task of recruiting for his undermanned ship. A short time after a printer informs him that some mutineers have been captured, a visit with the First Lord of the Admiralty reveals that the mutineers delivered Peregrine to the French. Clay is ordered to sail to the Caribbean, find the ship, and recapture her. If that’s not possible, she must be destroyed. There is no other way to erase the stain on the Royal Navy’s honor. To assist him in this task is a boatswain’s mate who once served aboard the Peregrine before the mutiny.
In Plymouth, a man encounters mates from the Griffin talking outside a tavern where an officer is signing on new recruits. Larcum Mudge likes what he hears and decides to join the navy. Yet his familiarity with life aboard a king’s ship causes them to wonder why someone who has spent so much time on a whaling vessel never claims to have served aboard a warship before. Then, during an encounter with a French privateer, Mudge slays one of the captives after he surrenders. It looks like a righteous kill, especially when a tattoo on the dead man identifies him as a deserter from the Royal Navy.
With rumors of peace abounding, the Griffin sails for the Caribbean. Upon arrival there, Clay has a brief reunion with his brother-in-law, who warns him about the mercurial temperament of the captain who blockades Guadeloupe where Clay hopes to find Peregrine. Once arriving on station, he discovers there is also a French warship in the harbor – one that the blockading captain has no knowledge of. Since the fortifications and natural layout of the harbor make it impossible to extract Peregrine, Clay devises an ingenious, yet risky, strategy to succeed in his mission. That entails a series of orders, one of which upsets the blockading captain. During his absence, Clay discovers the reason for the outburst and, in the process, captures one of the mutineers. In the meantime, Mudge and his messmates are among the men tasked with implementing Clay’s plan. When one of them does so with a tad more zeal than necessary, they become trapped. Only Mudge can lead them to safety. In doing so, he reveals knowledge that he shouldn’t have.
This eighth book in the Alexander Clay series takes place prior to the Peace of Amiens in 1802. It also represents Allen’s first venture into self-publishing. While Clay plays an important part in this story – one that involves a puzzle that could reopen wounds of a past scandal – it is predominantly a tale of the lower decks. Allen’s artful recreation of the past is second only to his skillful creation of Larcum Mudge. The name alone sparks interest, but readers soon come to care about this man and what happens to him. Larcum Mudge is by far the best book in the series and an adventure that fans old and new will enjoy.
With repairs to HM Frigate Griffin almost complete, Captain Alexander Clay attends to the task of recruiting for his undermanned ship. A short time after a printer informs him that some mutineers have been captured, a visit with the First Lord of the Admiralty reveals that the mutineers delivered Peregrine to the French. Clay is ordered to sail to the Caribbean, find the ship, and recapture her. If that’s not possible, she must be destroyed. There is no other way to erase the stain on the Royal Navy’s honor. To assist him in this task is a boatswain’s mate who once served aboard the Peregrine before the mutiny.
In Plymouth, a man encounters mates from the Griffin talking outside a tavern where an officer is signing on new recruits. Larcum Mudge likes what he hears and decides to join the navy. Yet his familiarity with life aboard a king’s ship causes them to wonder why someone who has spent so much time on a whaling vessel never claims to have served aboard a warship before. Then, during an encounter with a French privateer, Mudge slays one of the captives after he surrenders. It looks like a righteous kill, especially when a tattoo on the dead man identifies him as a deserter from the Royal Navy.
With rumors of peace abounding, the Griffin sails for the Caribbean. Upon arrival there, Clay has a brief reunion with his brother-in-law, who warns him about the mercurial temperament of the captain who blockades Guadeloupe where Clay hopes to find Peregrine. Once arriving on station, he discovers there is also a French warship in the harbor – one that the blockading captain has no knowledge of. Since the fortifications and natural layout of the harbor make it impossible to extract Peregrine, Clay devises an ingenious, yet risky, strategy to succeed in his mission. That entails a series of orders, one of which upsets the blockading captain. During his absence, Clay discovers the reason for the outburst and, in the process, captures one of the mutineers. In the meantime, Mudge and his messmates are among the men tasked with implementing Clay’s plan. When one of them does so with a tad more zeal than necessary, they become trapped. Only Mudge can lead them to safety. In doing so, he reveals knowledge that he shouldn’t have.
This eighth book in the Alexander Clay series takes place prior to the Peace of Amiens in 1802. It also represents Allen’s first venture into self-publishing. While Clay plays an important part in this story – one that involves a puzzle that could reopen wounds of a past scandal – it is predominantly a tale of the lower decks. Allen’s artful recreation of the past is second only to his skillful creation of Larcum Mudge. The name alone sparks interest, but readers soon come to care about this man and what happens to him. Larcum Mudge is by far the best book in the series and an adventure that fans old and new will enjoy.
October 5, 2020
Inspired by real events
The story begins, as all the stories in this series do, with a gripping hook. We find out at the very end that the events in the prologue were inspired by an actual event. The historical accuracy is just one of the appeals of this saga. The main characters are good, honorable men on the whole but there is plenty of nuance including the moral decision Captain Alexander Clay must make at the climax of the book. It’s a terrific series. I look forward to continuing it as further books are published.
The story begins, as all the stories in this series do, with a gripping hook. We find out at the very end that the events in the prologue were inspired by an actual event. The historical accuracy is just one of the appeals of this saga. The main characters are good, honorable men on the whole but there is plenty of nuance including the moral decision Captain Alexander Clay must make at the climax of the book. It’s a terrific series. I look forward to continuing it as further books are published.
May 9, 2023
This was a pretty good book up until the end, when things got silly just to set up an ethical dilemma. I am not sure how many more books Allen is going to dredge that event from the first novel before he gives it up for a better plot idea.
Other than that, this is a pretty solid adventure of Clay tasked to hunt down a ship that went mutiny and was sold to the French. Its well written and often quite humorous.
Other than that, this is a pretty solid adventure of Clay tasked to hunt down a ship that went mutiny and was sold to the French. Its well written and often quite humorous.
September 21, 2020
Larcum Mudge is the eighth installment in Philip Allan's marvelously engaging "Alexander Clay" Napoleonic-era series. It’s somewhat hard to believe that this series of nautical novels launched less than three years ago with The Captain’s Nephew. It’s even harder to believe that author Philip Allan shows no signs of running out of steam even after producing eight 300-odd page volumes in such a brief space of time.
I am not a voracious reader of nautical fiction. Rather, I’ll read a novel in any genre as long as it’s outstanding writing. Philip Allan has never disappointed me in that regard and his prodigious talent again shines brightly in Larcum Mudge. (I note this volume marks the author’s break with his previous publisher, PenmorePress, but readers will detect no change in the high level of editorial polish and fastidious layout.)
We catch up with our rather complicated protagonist, now - Captain Alexander Clay, as he takes up his new post as master and commander of the Royal Navy frigate Griffin, having just slipped the ways at Portsmouth. He and his crew, several of whom having been with Clay since his days as a lieutenant, are immediately dispatched to the Caribbean on a mission to recover a ship lost to mutineers who sold her to the French on Guadeloupe. The mutineers then dispersed to the four winds, an intriguing fact that contributes surprising twists to the story.
When Clay and his crew—including the very skilled and equally mysterious new crew member Larcum Mudge—reach Guadeloupe, they discover not only His Majesty’s purloined ship Peregrine, but also that the French have smuggled in a ship of the line able to outgun any vessel in the British squadron home ported on Antigua. Dealing with these two vessels occupies the remainder of this rollicking narrative, told with the characteristic deftness, detail, and nuance of all Allan’s novels.
In addition, Captain Clay is confronted by some hard realities regarding the rampant casual corruption in which several of his fellow officers are regularly engaged, allowing the author to explore more of the moral ambiguities that have dogged the protagonist throughout his career at sea. By the end, however, the warring nations reach an exhausted agreement at Amiens. With the fighting ended and peace descended, Clay heads home to his family—now augmented by the arrival of a new daughter. But readers should not despair, since even a passing acquaintance with the history of the Napoleonic Wars will relieve any trepidation that Clay and his crew will remain ashore for long.
Early on in my reading of Larcum Mudge, I noted that the author was violating one of the many hoary maxims for novelists—don’t begin books or chapters with the weather. Allan does this in most sections of this books and I was growing a little peevish over it. About a third of the way through, it dawned on me what he was about. This was, I’m fairly sure, a mimicking of how a ship’s master begins log entries, there being nothing more important during the age of sail than the weather and sea conditions. Thereafter, I found this an excellent literary device, subtly imparting a sense of the episodic structure of a ship’s log while not inhibiting the irresistibly page-turning pace characteristic of all the author’s books. I have thereby grown in my already substantial admiration for Mr. Allan’s skills.
Larcum Mudge is a wonderful read for both devotees of nautical fiction, as well as demanding readers who seek the very best quality writing regardless of genre. I highly recommend this novel, as well as its sibling volumes.
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
I am not a voracious reader of nautical fiction. Rather, I’ll read a novel in any genre as long as it’s outstanding writing. Philip Allan has never disappointed me in that regard and his prodigious talent again shines brightly in Larcum Mudge. (I note this volume marks the author’s break with his previous publisher, PenmorePress, but readers will detect no change in the high level of editorial polish and fastidious layout.)
We catch up with our rather complicated protagonist, now - Captain Alexander Clay, as he takes up his new post as master and commander of the Royal Navy frigate Griffin, having just slipped the ways at Portsmouth. He and his crew, several of whom having been with Clay since his days as a lieutenant, are immediately dispatched to the Caribbean on a mission to recover a ship lost to mutineers who sold her to the French on Guadeloupe. The mutineers then dispersed to the four winds, an intriguing fact that contributes surprising twists to the story.
When Clay and his crew—including the very skilled and equally mysterious new crew member Larcum Mudge—reach Guadeloupe, they discover not only His Majesty’s purloined ship Peregrine, but also that the French have smuggled in a ship of the line able to outgun any vessel in the British squadron home ported on Antigua. Dealing with these two vessels occupies the remainder of this rollicking narrative, told with the characteristic deftness, detail, and nuance of all Allan’s novels.
In addition, Captain Clay is confronted by some hard realities regarding the rampant casual corruption in which several of his fellow officers are regularly engaged, allowing the author to explore more of the moral ambiguities that have dogged the protagonist throughout his career at sea. By the end, however, the warring nations reach an exhausted agreement at Amiens. With the fighting ended and peace descended, Clay heads home to his family—now augmented by the arrival of a new daughter. But readers should not despair, since even a passing acquaintance with the history of the Napoleonic Wars will relieve any trepidation that Clay and his crew will remain ashore for long.
Early on in my reading of Larcum Mudge, I noted that the author was violating one of the many hoary maxims for novelists—don’t begin books or chapters with the weather. Allan does this in most sections of this books and I was growing a little peevish over it. About a third of the way through, it dawned on me what he was about. This was, I’m fairly sure, a mimicking of how a ship’s master begins log entries, there being nothing more important during the age of sail than the weather and sea conditions. Thereafter, I found this an excellent literary device, subtly imparting a sense of the episodic structure of a ship’s log while not inhibiting the irresistibly page-turning pace characteristic of all the author’s books. I have thereby grown in my already substantial admiration for Mr. Allan’s skills.
Larcum Mudge is a wonderful read for both devotees of nautical fiction, as well as demanding readers who seek the very best quality writing regardless of genre. I highly recommend this novel, as well as its sibling volumes.
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
August 23, 2020
Getting a bit redundant...just makes 4 stars
I really love these books...it’s a great series. However, it’s getting a bit redundant. There’s a lot less mystery since we know the main characters so well. Even the introduction of some new ones doesn’t seem to spark the excitement of the earlier books. If you love the series and love sailing adventures you’ll enjoy Book 8. Because I do...I’m giving it 4 stars...but it only just makes it to 4.
I really love these books...it’s a great series. However, it’s getting a bit redundant. There’s a lot less mystery since we know the main characters so well. Even the introduction of some new ones doesn’t seem to spark the excitement of the earlier books. If you love the series and love sailing adventures you’ll enjoy Book 8. Because I do...I’m giving it 4 stars...but it only just makes it to 4.
Read
July 18, 2020First a comment about the editing of this and all Kindle volumes in the Alexander Clay series. I am surprised by the large number of typos in each volume.
One of the less predictable plots in all the books. Feel that the “authorship” improves with each book of the series. I look forward to the next release
One of the less predictable plots in all the books. Feel that the “authorship” improves with each book of the series. I look forward to the next release
November 29, 2020
Such a great read
The last on the Alexander clay series of 8 books and i have enjoyed every one of them from 1 to 8 every one a journey from lieutenant to captain clay can't wait for the next 8. In a class of Kents bolitho books
The last on the Alexander clay series of 8 books and i have enjoyed every one of them from 1 to 8 every one a journey from lieutenant to captain clay can't wait for the next 8. In a class of Kents bolitho books
June 2, 2020
Outstanding
Detail, exposition of motives and duty par excellence typify this author’s efforts. His followers eagerly await more! Can’t wait for the next installment!
Detail, exposition of motives and duty par excellence typify this author’s efforts. His followers eagerly await more! Can’t wait for the next installment!
July 2, 2020
Sailing ship adventure
I have read with great interest each of the previous books and look forward to others. As the peace only lasted a year
I have read with great interest each of the previous books and look forward to others. As the peace only lasted a year
September 13, 2020
This whole 8-book series was just fantastic. I burned thru the entire series in 2 weeks and wanted more books. Can't recommend highly enough.
November 25, 2020
Extremely Well done
Having read the others in this series I can say that they all were fantastic. I look forward to more in the future
Having read the others in this series I can say that they all were fantastic. I look forward to more in the future
December 23, 2020
Best book.
Good read, nice end to the 8 book series.
What happened next is the question, hop there is more in the series
Good read, nice end to the 8 book series.
What happened next is the question, hop there is more in the series
February 20, 2023
It's been a while since I've read the Alexander Clay series so I was worried my tastes might have changed. I'm glad to say that it's still a very entertaining Age of Sail story, and thankfully that British passive-aggressive social construct is minimized so that the flavour is there without it becoming frustrating. There's lots of action that's split between Captain Clay's command, as well as that of the common sailor, such that the narration feels well-rounded yet concise. The story is very tight with minimal filler.
That said... it was too concise, as the antagonists were under-developed, and the titular Larcum Mudge to be underwhelming due to a lack of page count. He's yet-another-single-novel-character that Philip Allan introduces and discards as if this were a TV series. I haven't read the next novel, but I doubt the character will return. And this brings me to my main complaint: the episodic feeling of this novel. It's a personal preference but if a novel is skippable to the overall story of a series, I tend to really dislike those books. This novel is less critical than its predecessors and felt solid but uninspired, though it did surprise me enough with character development that I actually gave it another star.
Overall - recommended.
That said... it was too concise, as the antagonists were under-developed, and the titular Larcum Mudge to be underwhelming due to a lack of page count. He's yet-another-single-novel-character that Philip Allan introduces and discards as if this were a TV series. I haven't read the next novel, but I doubt the character will return. And this brings me to my main complaint: the episodic feeling of this novel. It's a personal preference but if a novel is skippable to the overall story of a series, I tend to really dislike those books. This novel is less critical than its predecessors and felt solid but uninspired, though it did surprise me enough with character development that I actually gave it another star.
Overall - recommended.
February 28, 2022
Clay Series Books
I am a fan of C. S. Forrester and of several other Age of Sail series , including Alexander Kent Bolthio and Dudley Pope Ramage books, and enjoyed these as well. Well thought out and written. One point I have issue with is as a Marine I am insulted by being called a Soldier. The U.S. Marines and our British Royal Marines deserve to be called by our proper title of Marines. Nuff said. I will recomend these books to others I know would enjoy them.
I am a fan of C. S. Forrester and of several other Age of Sail series , including Alexander Kent Bolthio and Dudley Pope Ramage books, and enjoyed these as well. Well thought out and written. One point I have issue with is as a Marine I am insulted by being called a Soldier. The U.S. Marines and our British Royal Marines deserve to be called by our proper title of Marines. Nuff said. I will recomend these books to others I know would enjoy them.
January 20, 2023
Second last in the series. Hate to see it end. Although fiction the historical components are informative and interesting is the nautical terminology of the time. Allan does a fine job with this series and is highly recommended IMO.
July 15, 2022
Enjoyed the latest installment of the Alexander Clay series very much - fun Age of Sail fiction.
December 12, 2023
quick moving
Great novel, one of his best! This is a fast moving clear detailed story worth a read. I gladly recommend!
Great novel, one of his best! This is a fast moving clear detailed story worth a read. I gladly recommend!
March 4, 2024
Yet another great story from Philip Allan.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews