A Troubled Course

"A Troubled Course is a brilliant late-eighteenth-century British naval adventure full of political intrigue, action, and betrayal. With richly detailed characters and dialog, David Donachie gives the reader a window into the early Napoleonic naval wars. The period-correct dialog cast against historical events makes this book a delight for historical fiction enthusiasts. With combatants and rogues seemingly at every turn, A Troubled Course, the seventeenth offering in the John Pearce saga, is sure to excite even the casual reader."

~Quarterdeck

Donachie assails your senses with the whiff of salt air and the heave and roll of a living ship beneath your feet. His characters are gritty and authentic, and he describes their world in all its high adventure and low brutality.

~Chris Durbin, author of The Carlisle & Holbrooke Naval Adventures

Droits of the Crown is a literary burgoo with just the right mix of historical authenticity and storytelling, one that grips the reader and carries them along. Donachie knows his time period and his subject matter, he knows how to spin a yarn, and once again, it shows.

~James L. Nelson, author of the Isaac Biddlecomb Novels

Droits of the Crown expertly captures the essence of the trials and triumphs of a life at sea while also giving a rare look behind the curtains at the corruption, power, and politics of the era. The characters and superb seamanship will stick with me for a long time. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a historical nautical adventure since Patrick O’Brian!

~Stefan Read, former tall ship captain and member of Toronto's shantymen Pressgang Mutiny

High adventure and detection; cunningly spliced battle scenes which reek of blood and brine; excitements on terra firma to match

~Literary Review

Pure adventure with excitement and daring all the way . . . historical fiction at its very best.

~Historical Novels Review Online

Outflanking and out-gunning C. S. Forester.

~Cambridge Evening News

High-speed epic from an ace storyteller.

~Daily Sport

Exciting and unpredictable.

~The Bookbag