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More like A Certain Threat (The Merriman Chronicles Book 1)
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From the Publisher
Pre-order now - The Threat In The Atlantic - Due for release on May 17th, 2024
Barely months after returning from the Adriatic, Captain Merriman is enjoying some rare time with his family. But his nation is exhausted by an apparently endless war and Napoleon’s continental system is denying Britain crucial supplies. Worse still, the French 80-gun ship Hercule has captured numerous British ships near the Cape of Good Hope. Captained by a wily veteran known as the lone wolf, the Hercule presents Merriman with his greatest adversary yet.
Joining his loyal first officer Alfred Shrigley aboard the newly-refitted HMS Thunder, they journey south to capture or destroy the Hercule. An unexpected diversion leads him to Portugal and a rendezvous with an old friend – the resourceful Charles Moreau. With no time to lose, Merriman must meld inexperienced men and hardened veterans into an effective fighting outfit. Along the way, he and his crew encounter slave ships, pirates, disease, storms and numerous allies and enemies before a fateful clash with their elusive nemesis.
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Book 1 - A Certain ThreatThe Year 1792. With French Revolutionary agents travelling freely but secretly between Ireland and England and war with France inevitable, the English government of Mr. Pitt is desperately anxious to uncover any plots between Irish rebels and the French. Lieutenant James Merriman with his ship, the sloop Aphrodite, is ordered to the Irish Sea to assist the principal Treasury agent Mr. Grahame in this work. Merriman is plunged headlong into the world of espionage and when Grahame is seriously wounded it falls to Merriman to carry on the investigation. Young James Merriman must keep all his wits about him to foil these plans especially when his adversary is revealed to be an exceptional French agent Henri Moreau who hopes that by helping the Irish to throw off the English yoke, France will be able to use Irish ports from which to attack England. |
Book 2 - The Threat in the West IndiesPublishers note: Updated and re-edited 6th edition - April 2024. The year is 1793 and Merriman has been sent to the West Indies as Captain of His Majesty’s sloop Aphrodite. Once again seconded to Mr. Grahame of the Revenue Service and under orders of Lord Stevenage of the Treasury Service, they are to discover French and Spanish activities across the islands which will decide their future actions. England's oldest enemy France - now under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte - is in the throes of the revolution and also is at war with Austria and the Netherlands. At this point in history - February 1793 - France declares war on England. In the West Indies, many of the islands had been fought over by the British, the French and the Spanish. The principal islands of St. Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe are still in French hands although this may be about to change. |
Book 3 - The French InvasionRecalled home from the West Indies, Merriman is given command of the frigate Lord Stevenage. It is known that the French are amassing an army and a fleet to invade Ireland and join with Irish rebels. If it succeeds then England will be ringed by enemy countries under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte, and only the navy stands between France and England. Once again Merriman is involved in the murky world of secret agents with English spymaster Mr Grahame, a man he knows well, to find out what they can about the French plans in Ireland where Merriman’s old enemy Moreau, a French agent, appears once more. This is a rousing story about murder, fights with the French at sea and ashore with the background of the real French invasion of Ireland which was attempted but failed. |
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Book 4 - The Threat In The EastThe year is 1798 and it is known that Napoleon is putting a fleet and army together to attack Egypt, from where he might be able to threaten and even attack India to join with Tipu Sahib the ruler of Mysore, a known ally of the French. A British fleet under Admiral Nelson is hoping to intercept him but there is no word of their progress. Merriman has been ordered to take the Treasury Agent Mr Grahame to Bombay where their orders are to help The East India Company protect their shipping from pirates and also to find out how far Tipu’s naval building has progressed. |
Book 5 - The Threat In The BalticIn the Spring of the year 1800, Captain Merriman and his frigate Lord Stevenage return home from India after being involved with the East India Company in the destruction of a pirate fleet. A treaty between Russia, Norway and Denmark threatens to cut the supply of timber and other supplies desperately needed by the navy so on Admiralty orders he is now to prepare for a voyage to the Baltic, to Copenhagen to try and find out about the defences of that town and harbour. Once again Merriman is involved with Mr Grahame the treasury agent, in secret, spying activities against England's enemies. Back at the Admiralty in London to report his findings about Copenhagen's defences and depths of water in the main channels, he meets Admiral Horatio Nelson who asks the Admiralty to send Merriman with him as part of his fleet to the Baltic. With his knowledge he will be needed. |
Book 6 - The Threat In The AmericasCaptain James Merriman aboard his ship Lord Stevenage is despatched to South America along with a small flotilla. A passenger by the name of George Humphries - part of the extensive network of English spies and agents controlled by a department of the Treasury – has orders for Merriman to seek out intelligence about England's enemies, particularly France and Spain. There are battles with a French frigate and a Spanish one with an assortment of privateers - little more than pirates - who prey on shipping of any nation in the south Atlantic. But another secret purpose behind this voyage is to recover important documents and treasure from a wrecked Indiaman in Brazil, the location of which is unknown apart from some very incoherent details from the sole surviving crew member. |
Book 7 - The Threat in the Adriatic
Captain Merriman is despatched to Gibraltar to take command of a seventy four gun third rate ship of the line, HMS Thunder, with orders to escort a convoy through the Mediterranean to Malta and on to the Adriatic to find Captain William Hoste.
Once again seconded to the Treasury, Merriman is joined by Mr. Clarke who is to secretly go ashore and report on French activity whilst the squadron does as much damage as possible to French ports, forts and convoys.
When given the command, Merriman had felt that he had at last reached the heights of his naval career but he had quickly come down to earth as he realised the greater problems he had to face with command of such a big ship. Dogged by problems with a slow ship in the convoy, a difficult officer and shipboard discipline, there is little time to prepare the crew before they encounter a new French 74 with devastating consequences including severe injury to Merriman himself and the loss of over 150 men.
The Fateful Voyage by Roger Burnage
Afghanistan 1879. Army Captain, Edward Merriman – the Great Grandson of Sir James Merriman – is fighting for his life. Pinned down by snipers, surrounded by dead and dying men, the chances of surviving the day are looking bleak.
With bayonets fixed they make ready for their last stand. The clash of steel on steel and screams of the dying are interrupted by a bugle call and a volley of rifle fire. Major-General Roberts’ army column heading for Kabul arrives just in time to fend off a massacre.
Injured and exhausted, Merriman is ordered back to Allahabad where bad news about his family and bride-to-be awaits. With leave to sort his affairs authorised, he heads to Singapore to see his brother and to find a ship bound for Calcutta and onward home to England.
He boards the Eastern Light, an iron-built, three-masted barquentine along with some very dubious passengers. Tempers flare as a drunken bully strikes his wife and a Japanese Samurai threatens to remove his head. Merriman takes control of the situation and hopes for an eventless journey. But as the ship enters Pirate infested waters and a storm brews, Merriman has no idea just how much trouble is ahead.
Publishers note: Whilst this book is part of the Merriman Chronicles series of books, it can easily be read as a standalone novel. Being set so many years later than the original protagonist (Admiral Sir James Abel Merriman) the family name and good standing is continued, yet follows the path of the Merriman family into a new era and away from The Royal Navy. There are undoubtedly many stories yet to be uncovered. As time, research and funding allows, we can look forward to more adventures of this illustrious and well respected British Family.
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Top reviews from other countries
David Hoggard
An outstanding debut novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2023