The Unlikely Heroes (St. Brendan Series Book 3)

Able Six is a genius with a bevy of dead geniuses talking in his brain. Born illegitimately in the early 1800s and later orphaned, he spent his childhood enduring the terrors of a Scottish workhouse. After running away, he went to sea and eventually wound up teaching at St. Brendan’s school in Portsmouth. Married now to Meridee and with son Ben, life is good. But Napoleon is still rampaging, so Able and his young students, Gunwharf Rats, are called to war in the newly christened Mercury, a messenger ship. Meridee and Ben are left at home to wait and worry as The Mercury and her crew do their dangerous duty. With the battle of Trafalgar looming, war will determine if a happy reunion awaits Able, Meri and the Gunwharf Rats.

The third book in the St. Brendan series will surely please its fans as it sees the likable Able Six and his wife, Meri, ensconced in family life, something Able never expected. Though the story is readable on its own, readers will want to start at the beginning of the series in order to appreciate the richness of the characters. Able and Meri are fully formed characters at the beginning of “The Unlikely Heroes,” as are the Gunwharf Rats, so readers will miss their development. The pacing early on is slow and readers may feel confused by the strange names and the ‘inside-joke’ feeling of missing something. The plot, however, picks up halfway through and provides some unexpected and poignant twists. The story’s heart is the sweet and loving relationship between Able and Meri and how much they love the young boys of St. Brendan's.

Marc Joseph