In the 16th book of David Donachie's long-running series, set in the summer of 1796, Lt. John Pearce has been given command of a 14-gun brig, the eponymous HMS Hazard, but due to the animosity of his superiors at the admiralty, his crew is almost entirely people by untrained landsmen. He also has an assignment, which, in cooperation with the mysterious government operative Samuel Oliphant, is to determine if Spain is likely to renege on its treaty with England and throw in on the side of the French.

But Pearce, even when seeking favors from the admiralty, cannot control his temper or his tongue, and he never fails to make his reputation with both his peers and his superiors worse at every encounter. Still, he continually proves himself useful and has a high level of success, which means his superiors keep finding tasks for him to tackle. Sometimes, as in this book, he even sails with orders that place him outside of the usual chain of command, which likewise fails to endear him to his peers.

Pearce doesn't seem to care.

Even as he sets out on his mission and tries to train his new crew into some semblance of competence, Pearce rescues a crew that had been set adrift and finds himself with a possible solution to his problems -- and a whole new threat to contend with.

Various subplots involve a duplicitous former shipmate, a criminal merchant seeking to reclaim a captured ship from the Royal Navy, a gang of smugglers with a grudge and, of course, Pearce's secretive lover Emily Barclay and their bastard child Adam. These serve primarily as distractions from the main storyline, however; none of them advance enough to distract readers for long.

This book is not as packed with sea battles as some books in this genre, but don't let that keep you away. Although there is the occasional naval engagement, HMS Hazard deals more frequently with a great deal of sailing, shipboard training, spycraft and diplomacy. In Donachie's hands, it's quite the page-turner, and I regret that this series is nearing its end.