Author Description

Historical novels of such fiery vigor and flesh-and-blood authenticity as this first volume, in what is promised as a huge Australian saga, are a rarity. The year is 1785. A group of condemned criminals, lying in chains in London's Newgate jail, are saved from the gallows at the last moment and thrust into the holds of half-rotted naval * bound, as only the captain of the convoy knows, for Australia. The fastidious, prickly and courageous Captain Phillip must transport his explosive human cargo to the new land in a desperate race against the French, equally intent on colonizing the Pacific, and risk a course through perilous southern seas to win it. Among the most memorable characters in a story that seethes with action are wily Joe Cribb, veteran and psychological victim of the American War of Independence; indomitable Kitty Brandon, one-time actress, court favorite and mistress of General Burgoyne, now a convicted murderer; a naive but determined chaplain; and quack doctor Abe Levi, a shrewd and experience-toughened Polish Jew. They tumble through a dramatic narrative in which fact and fiction fuse in totally credible fashion. Talbot, an Australian, has previously written thrillers under a pseudonym.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.