A good historical novel is a rare treasure. Few authors want to take the research time to craft characters into past, engaging and educating the reader simultaneously—and do it accurately.
A Darker Sea is the second of Haley’s new series based on U.S. Naval history. The first book of the series (though by no means the first book written by this honored Texas author) is The Shores of Tripoli. See my January 2017 review.
Like the first book, A Darker Sea is easy to read, with an engaging story, and an excellent description of why we fought the War of 1812, often considered the second U.S. war for independence. The plot is not laden with nautical detail. There is family lore, romance, bromance, action, and intrigue. Highly recommended for U.S. history lovers.
What to look for next year? In Haley’s own words, here are the eight scenarios he proposed for the series. “I sent off an outline for eight interlocking novels that followed the adventures of a juvenile midshipman in the Barbary War, through the War of 1812, perhaps chasing pirates in the Caribbean in 1818, with the missionaries in Hawaii in the 1820s, in the Texas Revolution in 1836, and so on to the Civil War, when he would be a white-haired old commodore.”