( 6 reviews )
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Posted: May 23 2009
I would like to give this 3 and a half stars, whereas I would give the sequel, Between Two Fires, four and a half. The book kept my attention but was ultimately unsatisfying. There is more drama than action. Too much on Jones' social and political life in Paris, tedious intrigues with Franklin and French aristocrats and officials to get some ships to go to war. Jones is a flawed hero, and a bit of a bore. He is presented through the eyes of John Severance, his first officer, who tells the story of his time with Jones to two aristocratic whores to earn a night in bed with the both of them. The device is unnecessary, and the women are featureless.
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( 5 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 26 2004
In all, enjoyable, readable, and sometimes surprising. There is an afterword acknowledging the embroidery of the truth. A raised eyebrow about the details prevents me from applauding the historical veracity of this novel. Nevertheless, the story told more than adequately compensates for this. As it is not meant to be a history, but historical fiction, the book succeeds admirably and is highly recommended.
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Sep 22 2004
John Paul Jones, I've learned, is passionate, sympathetic, kind, and merciful. John Paul Jones also possesses the horrifying qualities of a dictatorial and cruel son of a bitch. Jones's autocratic, over-the-top actions fit with the history we know. Mr. Nicastro does an amazing job of placing the distressingly human characteristics of this captain into the structure of facts that often resist personality. Reading about his two main characters felt like being on two enduring first dates. There were times when John Paul Jones charmed me. I wanted to fall in love with his tales of battle and conquest. My other rendezvous, however, was with the narrator, Severence. Gentler and possibly more worldly, he edged out the competition with observations that rewrote John Paul Jones into an authority figure who was less than authoritative although sympathetic. The novel's sexiness, while truly sexy, often sassy, and on occasion very naughty, serves to do more than satisfy adult appetites. Sex creates a physical tension between key characters that mirrors the political tensions Jones was trying to overcome. It also more clearly draws Jones as a man seduced by all kinds of success. A brazen reviewer might suggest that Nick Nicastro considers that possibility a quiet truth for every character he's created.
