Midshipman Martin Stockley's meteoric rise continues unabated in The Special Operations Flotilla, the second book in The Dorset Boy series by Christopher C Tubbs. After the first book, in which he rose from a 12-year-old clay miner with no prospects to a respected midshipman on a Royal Navy frigate, Marty will rise even further as he comes to the attention of admirals and spymasters who will use him to further their cause in the ongoing war against revolutionary France.

For all his relative inexperience, Marty is invited early in the book to meet personally with Admiral Hood, and he is assigned to lead a secret mission into France. Needing a cover story, they take over an English smuggling ring without effort. Marty cracks wise about making them an offer they can't refuse, then dispatches their most brutish enforcer without breaking a sweat.

As before, Marty excels at everything he attempts, and by book's end, he can be counted as a naval prodigy, master spy, smuggler, privateer, linguist, lover, thief, lock picker, military strategist, assassin and duelist. He has become a very wealthy man and has won the heart of the most sought-after young lady in all of England.

The story suffers from Marty's unrelenting skill. No challenge gives him pause for long, and no hazard causes him much concern. In fact, although Marty strides boldly into French territory, breaking into government buildings, intimidating officials, stealing secret documents and racking up an impressive body count, he never seems in much danger. Even his capture by a much larger French ship only inconveniences him for a few hours. He meets every task before him with confidence and an immediate grasp of the necessary solution, so there's never much tension in the tale.

Tubbs is still working without a good copy editor, and consequently the text is littered with cringe-inducing errors such as "Marty's nerves were as taught as springs" and "once they had past," as well as any number of punctuation and capitalization mistakes.

Despite my complaints, I find myself enjoying Marty's story. I wish Tubbs had found himself a good editor to correct his most blatant errors and help craft his story into a more polished novel. (I also wish the book had page numbers!) But Marty continues to be an affable character and I can't help but wonder what will happen to him next.

[ visit Christopher C Tubbs online ]