Sharpe's Prey

The year is 1807; Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is planning to leave the army. Against his better judgment, he is persuaded to accompany the Hon John Lavisser to Copenhagen in what is essentially an act of political skulduggery: they are to deliver a bribe and (hopefully) avert a war. But with the French ensuring that Europe remains at boiling point, Sharpe finds himself protecting his charge against French agents and struggling to ensure that the Danish battle fleet is not used to replace every French ship destroyed at Trafalgar. Sharpe is a character we know well and like, and his customary characteristics (tenacity, bloody-mindedness) are well to the fore here, but, as always, the other characters are equally strikingly drawn: Lavisser is a splendidly complex figure, as are several of Sharpe's nemeses. But it's that wonderfully adroit orchestration of action and plot that keeps the pulse racing, with the bombardment of Copenhagen and the massive bloodshed resulting in a truly impressive set piece:

Sharpe, from his vantage point on the dune, could see the smoke wreathing the wall. The city's copper spires and red roofs showed above the churning cloud. A dozen houses were burning there, fired by the Danish shells that hissed across the canal. Three windmills had their sales tethered against the blustering wind that blew the smoke westwards and fretted the moored fleet to the north of Copenhagen.

--Barry Forshaw

A bit of background might help those who are interested.
Richard Sharpe is a fictional soldier in the British Army during the Napoleonic period.
The earliest novel (so far) is set in India in the 1799 and the latest is set in South America (mostly) in 1820-21, but the core novels and the earliest written are set in the Peninsular war (Britain & Portugal vs. France in conquered Spain) between 1809 and 1812 leading inevitably to Belgium and the fields at Waterloo.
If you can think of a major (or even minor) British military engagement in that time period, Cornwell has written a Richard Sharpe book about it (except the 'War of 1812' ..but it may yet come if he can get Sharpe there and back before waterloo).

This novel is set pre 1809 in the lovely city of Copenhagen and tells the story of the British attack on the city. The device that gets Sharpe there is a plot to bribe the Prince of Denmark into surrendering his fleet to the Brits to prevent the French from getting their hands on it (as a replacement for the fleet they lost at Trafalgar).
I wasn't aware previously that we had attacked Denmark or that we shelled the population of Copenhagen into surrender...not a particularly nice episode in our distinguished past, but given our record in WW2 it shouldn't have been a surprise, so Cornwell gets an extra point for that.
Otherwise it is rather formulaic and while an entertaining enough read, does nothing to challenge the reader or their preconceptions about the lead character. We know so much about Richard Sharpe from the other novels (joined the army to escape poverty, became a sergeant and was raised from the ranks to become an Officer for saving the {future} Duke of Wellington's life in India) that this is just another slice of boy’s own adventure.

I'd give it three stars, because its only for fans of the series.


Sharpe's prey - one of the best   August 3, 2003
This Audio book is one of the best in a long line of Bernard Cornwell Audio books. With William Gaminara reading the entire series of unabridged books it maintains a continuety and style that is evident from the first chapter.

The miriad of voices used in the narration of this book make it come alive in a way that the paber version of it never could. all in all this is one of the best Sharpe Books.