Circumstances kept me from reading A King's Commander, the seventh book in Dewey Lambdin's ongoing series about brash British naval hero Alan Lewrie, as quickly as I'd like. Life kept intruding, and the book -- which ordinarily I'd have finished in a few days -- spent weeks on my nightstand.

It's a shame that the constant interruptions kept me from reading the tale to the end while the beginning was still fresh in my memory. Because it's a good yarn, perhaps one of the best in the Lewrie series to date, as the young naval officer takes his small vessel to sea -- for the first time -- as its commander.

It's not all smooth sailing, especially given a few indiscretions while exchanging cannonballs with a French foe, but he largely proves up to the task of command. And a nemesis from his past -- crippled and bitter -- returns to dog his heels once again.

There are still some ongoing weaknesses in Lambdin's work -- particularly in conversations with non-native speakers of the King's English. Lambdin peppers his narrative with slices of dialogue in French and German, expecting his readers to understand them, I suppose, from the context. And when someone struggles to get by in English -- I'm thinking primarily of his French mistress, Phoebe -- Lambdin employs a stilted pidgin English that is tiresome to read.

Also, readers might wonder if Lewrie really loves his wife and kids back home, or if he's simply too weak to resist every attractive woman who crosses his path.

But his adventures are excitingly written, and Lambdin peoples his stories with historical figures such as Nelson and Codrington, Cockburn and Hardy -- who aren't always precisely the way you might have imagined them.

I am enjoying this series immensely, and I am glad Lambdin has proved so prolific. (There are, I believe, more than 20 books in this series, so I have much more reading ahead of me. Hopefully, there will be fewer interruptions in the future!)