A Fine Boy for Killing, by Jan Needle

August 16, 2009 by
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, Jan Needle, Main character, recommendation, William Bentley 

This is the first volume of Jan Needle’s series of nautical fiction adventures called The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels. The novel is a very promising start to this series, A Fine Boy for Killing, by Jan Needle where Needle introduces readers to 14-year-old officer William Bentley and life aboard the frigate HMS Welfare during the Napoleonic Wars. The novel, and presumably the series, differs a lot from the more romantic presentations of life in the Royal Navy during the same era in series such as the Richard Bolitho series or the Thomas Kydd series.

In A Fine Boy for Killing, the focus is much more on daily life in the ship itself, and less on naval action, battles and heroism. Needles presents a much more realist view of the Navy than any other writer of this particular era that I have read so far. HMS Welfare is helmed by Daniel Swift, a notoriously ruthless captain. Bentley is actually his nephew and favorite, and looks up to his uncle. However, what he learns from his uncle, and tries to make sense of to the best of his abilities, is a view of the common sailor as a little more than a beast – scum, cowards, treacherous and deceitful.

The novel is focused on the inner life of the ship, both among the officers and midshipmen, and among the common sailors. We witness how excessive use of force by the sadistic Captain Swift, as well as hostile attitudes towards the crew from all officers, gradually builds tremendous tension in the ship. Floggings take place more or less daily on this ship – they are given for the slightest offenses. The abusive atmosphere aboard the Welfare is thick and immediate, as is the struggle for power over the ship.

I liked this book a lot, and could hardly put it down. It is an intense story, quite dark, yet rich in its characterizations, with a good plot, lots of attention to detail and good pace. It is a book devoid of naval action, and without heroes and heroism – there are no Hornblower’s or Lord Ramage’s here – but the perspective of A Fine Boy for Killing is very interesting and quite intriguing. A great start for this new series!

See more nautical fiction book reviews!

Praise:

“. . . A superbly written and engaging nautical adventure tale.”

– Midwest Book Review

“…A powerful story of lost humanity, its violent emotions and unremitting bleakness are shattering.”

– Guardian

“…His portrayal of the Age of Fighting Sail is gritty, realistic and thoroughly entertaining…”

– James L. Nelson Author of The Brethren of the Coast Trilogy

Links to Jan Needle’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Tags: , , , ,

Comments

2 Comments on A Fine Boy for Killing, by Jan Needle

  1. Bill Bartmann on Thu, 3rd Sep 2009 11:04 pm

    2. Cool site, love the info.

  2. Bill Bartmann- on Sun, 13th Sep 2009 10:42 pm

    3. This blog rocks! I gotta say, that I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,

    A definite great read…

    -Bill-Bartmann

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

You must be logged in to post a comment.