The Seeds of War, the 14th book in Alaric Bond's excellent Fighting Sail series, ends with the War of 1812 beginning between the United States and Great Britain. I picked up the next book, eagerly anticipating a book about the naval conflict between those two naval powerhouses -- one long established and one just getting started. Well, phooey -- Bond skips the war entirely.

On the Barbary Coast begins in 1814, with Captain Tom King and HMS Tenacious heading home to England after what is briefly described on page one as "a particularly drawn-out and frustrating campaign." Man, I wish I could read about that! But no, the weary captain and crew are heading home, pausing just long enough to destroy a suspicious-looking Baltimore clipper that was spied dogging the heels of a British merchant convoy.

Despite the understandable enmity of the clipper's Yankee captain, King generously agrees to carry his passengers -- Caleb and Hannah Palmer, a Quaker man and his daughter -- to England, where they hope to secure passage to the Barbary Coast and obtain the freedom of Caleb's son, who was captured and enslaved by pirates. Unlike so many others in a similar state, however, this Quaker intends to forgo money and persuade the pirates to release his son -- and others -- by offering the benefit of his trade acumen in exchange. King believes his plan unlikely to succeed.

King arrives in England to learn that both of his young children have died from an illness in his absence. Bereft, he quickly returns to sea, this time with his inconsolable common-law wife Aimee in tow. He is assigned to a new frigate, HMS Viper, and is sent to the Mediterranean to serve under Admiral Edward Pellew in an unofficial campaign against those self-same pirates. As expected, he will cross paths with the Palmers again.

The Mediterranean proves to be rife with action for Viper, with a bold cutting-out operation against a Yankee privateer, capture of a prize by Barbary pirates, ignominious captivity for members of Viper's crew (as well as Aimee), some awkward negotiations and a desperate rescue mission. There are some significant life changes among King's officers, too ... I'll hold off on saying more, to avoid spoilers.

The book ends at an unusual period for the Royal Navy -- the war with America is over, the war with France is (or appears to be, anyway) at an end, and the officers and men of those brave fighting ships have an uncertain future ahead of them. No word yet on another book in this series; let's hope King and his men don't find themselves idle for long!

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