Don't read the back cover of the book.

If you do, you'll learn before reading the tale how most of its major plot points unfold. Whoever wrote the summary should be removed from the publishing industry for good.

That said, David Donachie -- a fine author in the naval tradition -- has followed up the action from By the Mast Divided with another strong tale about the adventures of John Pearce and his fellow Pelicans.

Pearce, in the last novel, was on the run from the law when he and several newfound acquaintances were illegally pressed into the British navy. His sole goal through the book was to win his freedom and make his way to revolutionary France to save his father from prison. Now transferred to a new vessel, he foments unrest among the crew in the hope of making himself more trouble than he's worth -- and ends up landing a promotion instead.

He also earns the freedom to go to France, but it's not the journey he was expecting.

Pearce's rise from novice seaman to midshipman strains credulity a bit, since it's far more likely he simply would have been flogged into submission. Still, that wouldn't have made for an interesting story, and Donachie builds a foundation here that leaves me curious to see how Pearce will fare in the British navy.

This book also follows the story of Pearce's former captain and shipmates on the Brilliant. While interesting, I'm not sure why Donachie is juggling an unrelated storyline; presumably, these threads will come together again somewhere down the line.