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Rapscallion | 
 enlarge | Author: James Mcgee
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £6.44
You Save: £6.55 (50%)
New (27) Used (5) Collectible (2) from £6.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 1329
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0007212720
EAN: 9780007212729
ASIN: 0007212720
Publication Date: June 2, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book, in stock and dispatched from the UK. Freepost returns.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hawkwood Assists the Royal Navy July 4, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
James McGee is the pseudonym of Glen Moy, who was born into an army family in 1950. He was educated in Gibraltar, Germany and Belfast, giving him a love of travel, which is evident in his meticulous, vivid portraits of diverse people and places. His varied career has included banking, bookselling, thirteen years in the airline business, and book reviewing.
This is the third novel (the other two being Ratcatcher and Ressurectionist) featuring Matthew Hawkwood, a Bow Street Runner, and a bit of a loose cannon as far as taking orders from his superior is concerned. An ex-army officer and one of the best shots in his regiment. Matthew is more used to giving orders than taking them and he is not above bringing his own form of rough justice to the slums and drinking dens of Regency London..
I must admit to enjoying this book slightly less than the previous two. I am not sure whether it is the fact that Hawkwood is taken away from his old stamping ground of the slums of London and the dross that live there, along with his old sergeant Jago, who has helped Matthew on more than one occasion in the past. Jago the self styled king f the beggars became almost as much a part of the storyline as Matthew Hawkwood himself.
This book is still well worth a read and it is not necessary to have read the other two books, although they may give some relevant background information on the lead character Matthew Hawkwood. The storyline places Hawkwood in the more rural setting of the Thames estuary and involves among other things smuggling and the prison ships known as the hulks. These are the rat infested, rotten, flea ridden stinking hulls of former men-of-war converted to hold French prisoners from the Napoleonic wars. To be sent to the hulks is tantamount to a death sentence. Amazing the Royal Navy have received information that a well organised smuggling racket is taking place within the confines of the hulks and when two naval officers sent to investigate mysteriously disappear it is time to see whether Hawkwood can fare any better in a world that is as close to hell as makes no difference.
Trying Something Different June 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After an action packed debut in Ratcatcher and surviving the gothic darkness of Ressurectionist, Matthew Hawkwood, Bow Street Runner, is back in this third and once again very different adventure from James McGee.
One of the appealing things about the Hawkwood series so far is that each book has a distinct and individual feel to it. The first book was a light weight, action packed romp around Regency London whilst the second was a very much darker, blood soaked gothic affair. With Rapscallion the feel and focus shifts once again as Matthew Hawkwood finds himself outside London in the rural backwaters of the Thames estuary and caught up in prisoners of war and smuggling. This constant shifting of subject, locales and characters between books, with only Hawkwood and a few supporting players such as Jago and Read being the constants between them, keeps the series feeling fresh and prevents them becoming too predictable. It is something McGee should be applauded for, since in this reviewer's opinion far too many series of this type come to rely on repetitive, interchangeable plots and themes, to the point where the books seem to run into one another and are hard to differentiate.
The fact that with Rapscallion McGee doesn't quite hit the heights of the previous two books can more easily be forgiven when you consider that at least he is not simply regurgitating a slight variation on yet the same plot. Besides which, the criticisms of the book are comparatively minor. The pacing in the first third of the book feels slightly off and it takes a while for events to start to grab the reader. Again this is because McGee tries to do something a little different; setting up one apparent main plot strand before bringing it to a sudden and very unexpected conclusion and sending the whole book off in an entirely new, almost unrelated direction. Doing so keeps the reader guessing, but means that a third of the way in the whole narrative needs to be reset and a whole new group of characters has to be introduced. Inevitably this hampers the flow of the book and although the opening passages contain some evocative writing and great action readers might feel a bit cheated when the switch comes.
After the switch it takes a while for the pace to pick up again. When it does however, as with the previous books it doesn't let up. In order to find out how it ended I sat up until 1 a.m. on a work night to rattle through the last fifty pages and didn't regret my decision. Everything fans of the series expect is present. Hawkwood is his usual capable self, the bad guys are given enough depth that they aren't simple stock villains or OTT cackling psychopaths and McGee introduces some solid supporting characters in the form of Lasseur, Gadd and Mrs Flynn. The action is well written, exciting and when necessary uncompromising and to the point. Lasseur's actions during the dénouement stick in the memory in particular, being simple, quick and highly effective as well as totally surprising.
If McGee can keep the level of invention he has displayed thus far up over the books that follow then the Hawkwood series has a very bright future indeed. I would rather have flawed books like this, which at least try to do something new and original than ones that may work with machinelike precision but feel like they have been written to some sort of pre-programmed template. Roll on the next Hawkwood adventure. I can't wait to see where it takes us.
Sorry Sharpe your History June 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What can i say, The 3rd Hawkwood book and they go from strength to strength, The attention to historical detail is amazing and it feels like you are there, The atmosphere of the prison hulks is captured briliantly. The day the book was delivered i began and 16hrs later sadly i had come to the end, When's the next due? Not much of Jago in this but Lasseur more than makes up for that, Will we see him again?. I know this is meant to be a review but i'm sure others will do that so i'll just enthuse. If your new to Hawkwood i recommend starting with Ratcatcher always start at the beginning, but you wont regret the money spent, Richard Sharpe watch out your history.
a rare treat of a book June 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Im not even at the end of the book yet and i felt the need to review it. its in a word 'fabulous'. I have read the previous books ratcatcher and ressurectionist and loved them. And this is brilliant too. Hawkwood is masquerading as an american on a british prison ship and the story goes on from there its one of the best things i have read in a long time.
If you liked the first two books you will love this one and i loved the introduction of the character Lasseur, genius.
bring on the next one soon please
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