Sharpe's Enemy by Bernard Cornwell Book Review

I had a very difficult time putting this one down. Cornwell is a master story teller and although you're confident that Major Sharpe and his trusty ally, Regimental Sergeant Patrick Harper, will live through it all, you just have to wonder how they will fight their way through the most challenging of situations. At one point we can only assume that Patrick Harper was a casualty of an artillery assault. We have to keep reading to discover the truth.

We are introduced to Britain's secret weapon ... the Congreve Rocket developed by Sir William Congreve. Many felt that the inaccuracy and unpredictability of these newly designed weapons made them virtually useless on the battlefield. Sharpe finds a unique and destructive way to use them against the French.

The film version of Sharpe's enemy covers the first half of the book which describes a hostage situation by a group of ruffian English, French, Spanish and Portuguese deserters. Sharpe's old nemesis, Obadiah, is one of the leaders of this band of trouble makers. Although not entirely true to the book I enjoyed the movie version very much and saw it just a day after completing the book. The rocket troop was portrayed with a good dose of humor.

Sharpe has many enemies that go beyond the French. Obadiah Hakeswill, the continuous thorn in Sharpe's side, is actually the enemy referred to in the title. His former Sergeant, now a deserter, is as crazy and evil as ever. This is the last book of the Sharpe series where Obidiah is a character. One of Cornwell's favorite characters of all time, he has since regretted his decision to write him out of the story line. "Truly good villains are hard to come by" says Cornwell.

Cornwell admits in the historical note to the novel that beyond the fact that there was an army of deserters during the Peninsular War and that the Congreve rocket system was real and that all else in the novel is fiction.

I strongly suggest that you read the book first and then get a copy of the movie (Sharpe 4: Sharpe's Enemy). It is available at Netflix or possibly your local library.

References: http://bernardcornwell.net/