Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Blooding by James McGee

The Blooding: A Novel by James McGee --- 481 pages

The fifth adventure in the Matthew Hawkwood historical fiction series set in the Regency Period is another winner.

In 1812, Matthew Hawkwood, soldier turned Bow Street Runner turned British Foreign Office agent provocateur, finds himself in the United States, a country at war with Britain. Looking for a means to get home, Hawkwood decides to make his way as unobtrusively as possible to Canada,

Hawkwood's escape route takes him to Albany, in New York State, where he encounters Major Douglas Lawrence (a friend from a previous adventure in London) with a convoy of captured British soldiers headed for an internment camp at nearby Greenbush. Naturally, Hawkwood tuns aside to rescue Lawrence in a spectacular fashion.

As the two men contnue towards the border, they stumble upon evidence of an American plan to invade Canada and wrest it from British control. So far, the Americans have not acquitted themselves very well in their various forays against the British. But Hawkwood is not the kind of man to underestimate an enemy. If the American plan should succeed, the British could be driven out of Canada entirely. Pursued by relentless enemies through the stark winter wilderness, Hawkwood and Lawrence are determined to disrupt the Americans' plans. To do so they must follow rough trails through the Adirondack Mountains and find transport across Lake Champlain; a no-man's-land the Iroquois tribes call 'The Hunting Grounds', where Oneida warriors, allied with American forces, stalk the British and their Mohawk allies.

But Hawkwood has certain advantages neither his friend nor his foes realize. Hidden in the past he never talks about, Hawkwood has a personal connection with this place --- one that could stop the American invasion and put old ghosts to rest.

Brtitish author McGee combines fast action, suspense and incisive historical research in this excellent series. Fans of Bernard Cornwall will also enjoy James McGee.

Click HERE to read a review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read a review from Kirkus.

Click HERE to read a review from  the Historical Novel Society web site.

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