Overview

A deadly pursuit across the Pacific, an elusive, savage figure dealing in a barbaric trade, six of Norfolk Island's most notorious prisoners and a tribe of cannibals in the New Hebrides, conspire to make this a hair-raising, heart-stopping, swashbuckling and, ultimately, life-threatening adventure for Kit Killigrew, R.N. and the crew of HMS Tisiphone.

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9780747263821

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The Royal Navy s finest is the hero par excellence with the constitution of Indiana Jones, the ruthlessness of Dirty Harry and the ready wit of James Bond. Life is just one long adventure on the ocean wave and he leaves the reader breathless for his next voyage - Northern Echo A sea yarn in which you can taste the salty air - South Wales Echo If you like the ring of steel and the smell of gun powder this is for you - Peterborough Evening Telegraph

This, the third outing for Royal Navy Lieutenant Kit Killigrew, is set in the lawless waters of the 1850s South Seas. Lunn's novel is an amalgam of several factual stories: the transportation of indentured servants (native slaves), whaling, the stripping of natural resources such as sandalwood from the islands, the life awaiting deported convicts (the 'incorrigibles' of the title), and mini-despots establishing empires of their own. The swashbuckling hero Killigrew - part Hornblower, part nautical Sharpe (even part Rambo) - is attempting to bury a ghost from his past: a woman who died because of his actions. His ship is ordered to take a journalist and a new governess to a penal colony on Norfolk Island (the Alcatraz of its day). An Irish political prisoner, Devlin Cusack, is held there and evokes a certain amount of sympathy from Killigrew, and they discuss the background of Cusack's activities - the Irish famines and the hardships that ensued. However, Cusack escapes with some of the other convicts, on a ship captained by the uncle of someone Killigrew had killed in self-defence. They take as a hostage the recently appointed female governess, who had accepted the position to avenge the death of her brother, murdered by someone on the island. This offers Killigrew a chance to atone for his previous error, and leaves him with scant regard for his own life and safety, as he pursues his quarry with a determination that will see him succeed or die in the attempt. This is a thoroughly enjoyable naval adventure. The authentic language and historical setting are highly successful, and there is plenty of action to keep readers interested all the way through and inspire them to find other books in the series. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Born in London, Jonathan Lunn started writing at the age of fifteen. He studied history at the University of Leicester, where he became involved in politics. He worked for six years as a spin doctor for the modern-day equivalent of the Whigs. He now lives in Bristol.

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