"The folk fleeing the city were being headed off and some were climbing to the big white building while others, in despair, were going back to their houses. The cannon were fighting their own battle above the river, the French guns trying to match the bombardment from the big Portuguese battery which started dozens of fires in the fallen city as the round shot smashed ovens, hearths and forges. The dark smoke of the burning buildings mingled with the gray-white smoke of the guns and beneath that smoke, in the valley of drowning children, Richard Sharpe was trapped."
Lieutenant Richard Sharpe's orders are simple: to go and retrieve the runaway Miss Kate Savage from Vila Real de Zedes. He is, according to his commanding officer Hogan, not to fall in love with her, get her pregnant or give her the spanking that she richly deserves for running off during the evacuation of the city. Sharpe soon finds himself and his regiment of rifles out of a job... Colonel Christopher, who is also going after Miss Kate, tells them that he doesn't need them, and gives them new orders. So, unable to do anything else, they try to rejoin Captain Hogan. The invading French cut them off, leaving them to fight their way through with an attachment of Portuguese solders. the journey to find the nearest river crossing takes them to Vila Real de Zedes after all...and of course, Christopher is less than thrilled. This is because not only is he claiming to have married the girl (something that only he and the priest know is not true) but he has a plan...a shady plan that he claims will win the war...but for which side, it is impossible to guess. Christopher thinks he's far cleverer than Sharpe...something he's about to learn is totally not true.
The first thing, at least the thing that excited me the most, is that this book is nestled in between Sharpe's Rifles and Sharpe's Eagle...yes, that's right, we have the gang once more. Harper, Hagman, Harriss, Cooper and Tounge all take major parts in the adventure. For those who missed the camaraderie of this group, reading this book is a welcome reward...I had no idea how much I missed them until I settled down to read. There is something about this group dynamic that is incredible...Sharpe has to continually tread the line between openly joining his men in friendship and being the leader. Because he has to be the leader...and is ambitious enough to not want to give it up...he often has to make very hard decisions. Because he is, for much of the book, the officer in charge, he is also able to relax a little, and this creates a few memorable and comfortable scenes between him and his riflemen.
There is also a lot of adventure. Because he is cut off from everything, his only source of communication is from the probably treacherous Christopher. This adds a little undercurrent of worry, even as Sharpe's valiant attempts to rejoin the army and keep his men alive. You don't have any real rests between battles, because in the back ground the battles to do this are constantly moving forward. Christopher puts the men in several untenable positions, but Sharpe, through his luck and common sense manages to bring everyone through them. Which is why, I think, Sharpe is so darned attractive...he is the underdog, but he always manages to triumph with his honor intact, which gives the reader a sense of hope.
Lushly described settings and battles transport us back once more into Sharpe's time...a journey that I always love to take, and hope to take again.
Sharpe's Havoc
Bernard Cornwell
