Pompous, blustering, newly appointed Captain Kaye has been assigned on a mission to the West Indies on his new ship Biter...

Brutal conditions and forced labour are causing the slaves on the sugar plantations to rebel against their white masters, and support from the English Navy is desperately needed.

Lieutenant Peter Coppiner is given the task of finding men to accompany Captain Kaye on his voyage. But life on board ship in the 18th Century were harsh - conditions were dangerous, labour was tough and punishments severe... And that was if you managed to avoid the scurvy...

Coppiner's bitterness about his own failure to rise from the rank of Lieutenant means that he is far from scrupulous when it comes to 'persuading' men to join his crew...

The treatment on board is almost too awful to bear...

Most of the men Coppiner 'recruits' are dead before the ship has even left the Thames. The only survivors left for Kaye's voyage are three murderous Scotsmen and a mad Irish man. The rest of the crew are either keen to see the white sands of the Caribbean (and drink the free rum) or have been press ganged into joining up...

Will Bentley miraculously finds himself serving on board Biter as acting Lieutenant, narrowly escaping jail and the gallows... His new Captain and crew don't really fill him with confidence...

As the ship prepares to set sail, his thoughts turn to his best friend Sam and his beloved Deborah...

Are they still alive?

And what are the chances of Will ever seeing them again?

The Spithead Nymph is a gripping naval adventure that will appeal to fans of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester. It is the third in the Sea Officer Bentley series.

Jan Needle has had more than forty books published, including the best-selling Napoleon: The Escape, Death Order, and the Charlie Raven Adventures.


Praise for Jan Needle and the Sea Officer Bentley series


'... the characters as drawn into a destiny of fear, love, hatred, and horrifying tragedy.' Yorkshire Gazette & Herald

'Needle introduces readers to 14-year-old officer William Bentley and life aboard the ill-fated frigate Welfare... Such tales can easily fall prey to convention, but in Needle's hands the Welfare comes alive with rich, compelling characters and vivid imagery. There are no white knights here and no one-dimensional villains... an invigorating story.' Publishers Weekly

'A fresh voice in maritime fiction... gritty, realistic and thoroughly entertaining [Needle] does not flinch from portraying the uglier aspects of life aboard a man-of-war, which is just one of the reasons his work stands out from the crowd.' James L. Nelson, author of The Brethren of the Coast Trilogy

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