The Return of Napoleon

The Hundred Days, Patrick O'Brian (Nineteenth installment in the Jack Aubrey-Stephen Maturin series; W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-31979-2)

Yes, I've been skipping around in the series. I see something that interests me, I pick up the book, read the section, then all of a sudden I'm reading the whole thing.

Napoleon escapes from Alba and starts trouble again. Jack is made Commodore of a small contingent and to the coast of Africa to try and prevent any ships being made there for the French in joining his forces. Convert the crews, sink them, or burn them, as need be. Stephen is also given a mission of preventing an infusion of cash to the mercenaries that Napoleon will need in his cause.

One sea battle, one chase, and a very extended adventure in Africa makes this (once again) different from the picture you might have from the first volumes of the series. One character death that seemed odd in that it is a continuing character and the death is almost hardly mentioned. A scene from the end, I'm told, builds into the next book (Blue at the Mizzen), so it's off again!