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Sharpe's Assassin
Storyline
Lieutenant-Colonel Sharpe is a man with a reputation. Born in the gutter, raised a foundling, he joined the army twenty-one years ago, and it's been his home ever since. He's a loose cannon, but his unconventional methods make him a valuable weapon.So when, the dust still settling after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington needs a favour, he turns to Sharpe. For Wellington knows that the end of one war is only the beginning of another. Napoleon's army may be defeated, but another enemy lies waiting in the shadows - a secretive group of fanatical revolutionaries hell-bent on revenge.
Sharpe is dispatched to a ne battleground: the maze of Paris streets where lines blur between friend and foe. And in search of a spy, he will have to defeat a lethal assassin determined to kill his target or die die trying...
Review
This story has appeared as a bit of a surprise, as it is nearly 8 years since Sharpe last strode into battle.
The story starts in the immediate aftermath of Waterloo, with Sharpe helping to bury Daniel Hagman. Sharpe is barely given time to fill in the grave before he is off to rescue a British Officer held in a local fortress. Sharpe using his usual style of guile and belligerence forces his way into the fortress and is just in time to save the officer.
Sharpe is then sent off to Paris with the man he has rescued to find and destroy a secret organisation bent on killing Wellington.
Sharpe is faced with the usual problems his own instinct against the upper classes lassitude, and incompetence. However he earns his spurs after foiling a rather basic attempt on Wellingtons life. However his victory is brief, and unable to prove that a further plot is afoot, is assigned the duty of protecting the Louvre, and it's collection of looted artworks. Sharpe however continues on his quest to prove himself right, and stop the Napoleonist's from exacting revenge.
The story is well written, covering a period of which I have never really considered. For me the Napoleonic wars stopped at Waterloo, but obviously in the days following Waterloo, with Napoleon still at large things were delicately balanced. The story has all the usual elements, but without the major set piece battles where Sharpe is most at home. I wrote in my review of Sharpe's Devil that Sharpe can be like a fish out of water when it comes to piece time. Whilst the large battle scenes are missing, the three smaller skirmishes are well up to Cornwells usual standard.
Overall I enjoyed the story, it has all the usual elements but with the enemy largely defeated, there is room for some lighter elements, that would be found in life after the major battles are settled and peace is coming.
It's good to see both Sharpe and Harper on the road again, and from later comments not necessarily heading for a long retirement.
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