The Seven Years War continues in Rocks & Shoals, the seventh novel in Chris Durbin's Carlisle & Holbrooke series of British naval adventures set in the late 1750s. In this volume, Capt. Edward Carlisle sets sail for the St. Lawrence Seaway to help take Quebec and further unseat the French from North America.

Taking yet another chapter from a rarely told period in history, Durbin steeps his readers in a seemingly hopeless journey through treacherous waters to the French stronghold of Quebec.

And it's an unusual tale for the British navy, where the fiction usually pits mighty ships against one another at sea. In this book, Carlisle assists in navigating the St. Lawrence, bringing the British army (under Major-General James Wolfe) safely to Quebec so they can defeat the French and weaken France's hold on the region.

The path before them is dangerous, however, and Carlisle is aided along the way by a group of French pilots (who, it may be argued, were coerced into aiding their foes) and the soon-to-be famous explorer James Cook, who here helps to map the waterway.

There is, as always in Durbin's stories, plenty of action nestled in a bed of historical facts. The Seven Years War -- or, as it's called in classrooms in the United States, the French & Indian War -- is unusual grist for the novelist's mill, and it's a treat to see this era and its globe-spanning conflict explored so thoroughly. Even as they thrill to the exploits of Durbin's fictional characters, readers will learn a good bit about the war and its impact on history.

Also, fans of the series will no doubt be pleased to see a reunion of its two primary characters, Carlisle and his former right-hand man, Commander George Holbrooke. Holbrooke's appearance here is brief, but it's downright pleasant to see them together again.