Book review - Sharpes escape

With Sharpe novels you know what to expect, they follow a largely formulaic plot. Sharpe the underdog up from the ranks hunts down challenges in the face of adversity against the establishment that he hates and loves. Not satisfied with impossible odds success Mr Cornwall throws in a classic gory battle scene, where the entire army relies on Sharpe and Wellington to save them. Throw in a very loose romance a few dead ensigns and worthy villain and you have a Sharpe novel. So you'd expect them to rather tedious yet like titanic and the Easter story, knowing the story doesn't detract from the humanity of the story. This is what Sharpe's Escape does very well.

All through the story Sharpe, Harper and Vincente, are put in impossible situations with 0% chance of success each time they must surely die, yet as a reader you know they must survive you don't know how but they simply must survive. Even though Sharpe is locked in an impregnable cell behind enemy lines with the 95th Light company on the other side of the country led by a fool, you know that somehow it is Sharpe that will burst in just in the nick of time to rescue the day and then go on to lead by example and show that in its day the British army and in particular the Baker rifle was the best in the world. He'll do all this with a inane loyalty that is never repaved, and shear bloody mindedness.

One difference between this and other books in the series is that previous encounters have had the classic parallel story of Sharpe's personal mission building along side a major army ambition led by Wellington. This has inevitably meant a highly descriptive detailed battle scene at the end of the book, and whilst Sharpe's escape does deliver a battle at the end the far more interesting one is at the start and in truth the battle never really stops, but in this book you get right into the action from page 1.

If you've read and enjoyed the previous shapre novels don't hesitate, jump straight into this one, you'll love it. If your new to Sharpe then there is as always a question as to where to start, the consciousness seems to be to start with Sharpe's Tiger and work through chronologically, that makes the most sense. Ultimately, however, it doesn't matter where, and Sharpes Escape is as good as any place to start, it is a self contained story that provides you with all the background you need to get straight into it. Sharpes Tiger remains one of my favorite books and this latest offering is every bit the book it needs to be and as always on a grey day on the metropolitan line, Sharpe has proved to be this bloggers perfect Escape.