Keane’s Charge

by Iain Gale Book 3 in the Keane series.

First published 2015

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4.1(1,163)

The Portuguese university city of Coimbra has been ravaged by the Peninsular War when Captain James Keane and his men enter its ruined streets. British and French armies have moved through the region, leaving civilians, guerrillas, soldiers and intelligence agents to compete over what remains, while Wellington’s campaign depends increasingly on information as well as force.

Keane is ordered to secure a book of ciphers hidden in the city before rival agents can reach it. Spanish guerrillas, Portuguese factions and a dissident Jesuit group make loyalty difficult to judge, and the scramble for intelligence adds another motive for deception. The mission forces Keane to decide when obedience to orders is less useful than his own reading of the men around him.