Must read 🏆
A Brilliantly Researched and
Superbly Plotted Adventure Story
By KEVIN CANNON
Reviewer
Reedsy Discovery
The Hunt For The Peggy C tells the captivating story of two men. Jake Rogers, an American smuggler plying his trade during World War Two ferrying his legal and not so legal cargoes wherever they are needed and Viktor Brauer, a Nazi U-boat commander determined to hunt down the Peggy C and get his revenge on Captain ‘Jolly’ Rogers.
Blending great characters with a wealth of nautical knowledge and a large dose of history, John Winn Miller has written an enthralling boys' own adventure story that will thrill the reader from cover to cover. Add into the mix a human cargo of Jewish refugees, a downed British airman, captured German seamen, and a crew close to mutiny and you’ve got a recipe for danger afloat in the most dangerous shipping lanes in Europe.
Firstly, the roster of characters is first class and the reader will find it difficult not to connect with most of them as the story unfolds. The maritime details are interesting and lend a really believable feel to the action aboard both vessels as hunter and the hunted navigate their way through the war zone of the Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Filled with true historical details about the war and the countries involved further showcase the author’s meticulous research that adds to the readers' experience.
The handling of the story of the romance that develops between Jake and Miriam, the Jewish trainee nurse, is delicately dealt with and also allows a glimpse into the problems endured by the Jewish people at the hands of the Axis powers and other supposedly ‘friendly’ countries during World War II.
At times this made my heart race as the Peggy C and her crew attempted to evade capture both on the sea and on land as they were mercilessly pursued by Brauer and his U-boat crew. At other times it was a struggle to contain the tears of sadness, frustration, and sometimes joy as the momentum switched between the two sides.
A must-read for anyone who has an interest in nautical tales or history and anyone who loves a great story of adventure, hijinks on the high seas, and well-researched background information. Throw in a dash of romance and you’ve got something for everybody.
In Summary, this is a brilliantly researched and superbly plotted adventure story which also manages to handle delicate issues like the persecution of Jewish communities in a way that highlights this to a possibly new audience. This is well deserving of its five stars.
