The Civil War is over, and Lt. Peter Wake is enjoying a rare period of domestic bliss at home with his wife Linda and their two children. But Robert N. Macomber is too good a writer to leave his hero idling for long, and sure enough orders come assigning Wake to the executive officer's post on the USS Canton, a coal- and wind-powered gunboat tasked with finding and destroying a former Navy officer who has gone rogue and is playing bloody pirate in the Caribbean.

Wake's captain proves to be a drunk and a laudanum addict who is useless as a leader or strategist. Fortunately, Wake is more than capable of taking command, although his methods might be seen in Washington, D.C., as outright mutiny. Even so, he soon finds himself working in concert with ships from the British and Spanish navies, who also want to see the pirate stopped, as well as a helpful Venezuelan ambassador with a personal score to settle.

Macomber keeps a whole lot of boats in the water, and even more characters in play. At times, it's a little hard to keep track of everyone's role in the story, but it all quickly becomes clear -- and the gringo pirate simplifies matters by whittling down the cast of characters fairly rapidly.

Be warned, this is a very violent novel, and not just in the usual way of naval combat, with guns blazing across the water as ships battle for supremacy. The violence here is often up close, personal, brutal and gory, and the victims are frequently noncombatants. The pirate is merciless, and readers will be eager to see him get his comeuppance.

Macomber moves his players through the action like pieces on a chessboard, and readers will be hard pressed to anticipate the outcome. And, even when it might seem like the story has reached an end, the author takes readers through a tense court martial that could redefine Wake's future in the service.

It's been a while since I've read anything by Macomber, but I'm glad A Dishonorable Few and the next few books in this series have come my way. Wake, I think, has a very interesting career ahead of him.

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