Promo: Ships of War – Murky Waters by Bradley John
Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Bradley John to Ruins & Reading. We're sharing a tempting extract from his exciting new novel, Ships of War – Murky Waters. Have a look!
Ships of War – Murky Waters is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find more enticing excerpts HERE!
Agamemnon snuck around the shoreline like an African cat slinking about a waterhole, waiting hungrily on its prey. They were in the shadow of Sheppey now, the sun rapidly descending almost directly behind them. The ship started to make way considerably, the bow nodding heavily in descent and ascent, determined to scythe deep the murk of the Channel. The jacks were not ignorant either of their captain's cunning. He had been as slippery as an old hand nicking the rum. It would take a lookout of some quality to now spot Agamemnon running fine in the afternoon shadow with the sun squarely disappearing. It was a point of honour to serve with a captain who was no fool and how they buzzed as they weathered the speed of the ship making way. The far horizon deepened, finally falling dim. Underneath the flash of battle flickered haphazardly, Thor's hammer sparking within a darkened cloud. They could hear the cannon fire now, much the same as a faint thunder breaking the distance on a stormy night. The jacks popped up their good ears, waiting and listening, some older hands counting the intervals to attest the cannon crews' skill, others immediately insisting they were six pounders on one brig and eight pounders on the other.
Cooper took the time to settle his thoughts, play through the relevant and most likely scenarios. A British ship was under fire, running for their very lives. He was required to render immediate assistance, there was no other course, lest he enjoyed hanging. But he had not a full complement and there was an uncertainty in the crew, something to which he couldn’t shake. They were new and were yet to fight together as such. Some had not been aboard a ship for years. This wasn’t the prudence for which he and Nelson had painstakingly planned. Should he come up on the action and suddenly find a seventy-four, or a squadron of pirates, all could be lost. It was a good guess no pirate would wait around to take charge of a third rate with some four hundred men. No, indeed, they would be of a mind to just sink her and be done with it. And with that, Cooper would also be sunk, his career and livelihood abruptly at an end, that is should he somehow manage to even survive.
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England is ill prepared, Europe is in turmoil and the French Revolution is readying to sweep across the continent. A tedious uneasy peace poises on a knife's edge. Brittana rules the waves, yet as more and more ships mysteriously vanish, it is rightly thought an act of war. However, England needs more time, or all could be lost.Buy Link: Universal Buy Link
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