Highlander was torpedoed off the coast of Scotland in 1941. There was a storm and she sank almost immediately, taking with her not only Captain Herschell and all his crew but also the Captain's precious sextant from which he was never parted. Or so the Admiralty said at the time. And so his son John firmly believed. Until, forty years later, he was hailed to the Strathclyde Police H.Q. to identify the proceeds of a robbery; only to find among the loot his father's sextant in its immaculate rosewood box, burnished and polished -- and very definitely not resurrected from any watery grave. And so John and his girlfriend Fran set off in quest of the truth, to the isolated village of Laichy on its sea loch
Brian Callison was a British novelist known for his best-selling thrillers and sea stories. Born in Manchester, England in 1934, he was educated at the High School of Dundee, and went to sea at the age of 16 as an apprentice with the Blue Funnel Line, sailing aboard cargo ships between ports in Europe and East Asia. Callison subsequently studied at Dundee College of Art in Scotland, and went into business. His first published novel, A Flock of Ships, appeared in 1970. In 2008 he completed a three-year appointment as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund at the University of Dundee, mentoring staff and students in all aspects of practical writing. Callison died in Dundee on 5 February 2024, at the age of 89.
A story of the wild seas off Scotland, set in the 1940s and the 1980s in the highlands of North West Scotland. A very well written story full of suspense. That being said the ending felt hurried and a wee bit predictable. Nonetheless well worth a read.