Publisher's Weekly Review
Matthew Hawkwood's heartbreaking past meets his hair-raising present in McGee's splendid fifth Regency thriller (after 2014's Rebellion). In 1812, chance takes Hawkwood, a former Bow Street Runner, to northeastern America, a dangerous place for a British operative given the fledgling nation's war with England. After he frees his friend, fellow British agent Maj. Douglas Lawrence, from a military prison near Albany, N.Y., the pair seek Canada's safety. They narrowly escape encounters with American soldiers, Oneida warriors, and other perils only to discover evidence of an American plan to invade Canada. Its success would mean disaster for the Crown, so Hawkwood and Lawrence must warn British authorities in time. Alternating segments depict Hawkwood's traumatic childhood in New York's Mohawk Valley, where the 12-year-old formed a transformative bond with the Mohawk chief Tewanias. Freshly illuminating Hawkwood's character, these boyhood glimpses are moving. Balancing moments of poignancy with swashbuckling action, historical interest, powerful suspense, and wry wit, McGee delivers all the delights of a classic adventure story. Agent: Jennifer Weitz, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Matthew Hawkwood of the Bow Street Runners, the British crown's special police unit, finds himself stuck in America, trying to wend his way home to London while the Yankees are at war with Britain. Seconded to the Alien Office to trouble Napoleon, Hawkwood is forced to escape France on a ship sailing to the fledgling United States. It's 1812. Hawkwood lands in Boston, intending to make his way home through Canada via Albany when he's compelled to stop a robbery. The victim, Quade, is an American officer from whom Hawkwood learns valuable intelligence about the Lake Champlain campaign. Then Hawkwood sees an acquaintance, Maj. Lawrence, in a prisoner transport. Ever combative Hawkwood frees Lawrence, undertaking a solo nighttime raid at the Greenbush army camp. McGee also weaves in a storyline about Hawkwood's childhood. His father, crown loyalist Ellis Hooper, died at the 1777 Battle of Oriskany, and the orphaned Hawkwood was sent to live in New York with the Archers, British loyalists who were then killed by militia forces. Young Hawkwood was rescued by Lt. Wyatt, British 4th Ranger Company, and his ally, Mohawk chief Tewanias As the parallel Hawkwood adventures intertwine"In his mind's eye he saw a twelve-year-old boy lost in a forest wilderness, surrounded by shadows"McGee blends in historical references to Sir John Johnson, Zebulon Pike, and the Lake Champlain paddle steamer Vermont. There's also insight into the troubled history between the Six Nations and white settlers, although some might find his ever stoic characterization of the Mohawks near clich"The other warriors maintained their silence, their faces inscrutable in the fading light." With Lawrence and a touch of British stiff-upper-lip repartee to perk interest, Hawkwood's a hero to root for, especially with the addition of an intriguing back story. Captivating action, page upon page, from a Regency-era Bond or Bourne. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
McGee's latest entry in the Matthew Hawkwood historical-suspense series (after Rebellion, 2014), which should be read in order, finds the British Regency spy adrift in Albany, New York, at the outset of the War of 1812, due to an earlier error of judgment in France. He had expected the smuggler's ship he sailed on to be intercepted by the Royal Navy (providing him with a convenient ride home), but, instead, masquerading as an American officer, Hawkwood must wend his way to the British in Canada, via the Mohawk Valley and Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario, where hostilities are about to begin. In alternating parallel stories, readers finally learn about Matthew's early life and the years he spent with the Mohawks, while also following him through the wilds of 1812 upstate New York. By now readers know Hawkwood is impossible to kill, but those around him die gruesome and surprisingly inventive deaths: this adventure is not for the fainthearted. Fast paced and filled with atmospheric setting and period details of pioneers, militias, and Huron and Mohawk warriors, this gripping tale rivals Eliot Pattison's Bone Rattler series and Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales.--Baker, Jen Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This cat has more than nine lives. In his fifth outing (after Rebellion), British spy Matthew Hawkwood finds himself in Albany, NY, but wanting to be in Canada. The year is 1812, and the United States is at war with England. First Hawkwood spots a captured British officer from his past, then he notices the American troop build-up. Of course, he has to rescue one and report the other, and thus the chase and close calls begin. The reader can catch barely a breath as the two Brits dodge bullets and tomahawks and survive drownings and treachery in trying to cross the border. McGee intercuts his narrative with flashbacks to Hawkwood's American childhood, which explains some of how he came to be the agent he is. The pace is fast and never beyond belief, making for a most exciting story. VERDICT This entertaining adventure is not just for those who enjoy American historical fiction or war stories. Readers who like their spies with quick wits and fists may want to start here and then return to the start of the series.-W. Keith McCoy, Somerset Cty. Lib. Syst., Bridgewater, NJ © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
