Sharpe's Devil (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #21) (urspr publ 1992; utgåvan 1993)

Last of the Sharpe adventures set in Chile. Even features Napoleon. Good stuff! ( )

This meant to be the terminal Sharpe. An interesting experience, with appearances by Cochrane, the British Adventurer/Admiral, and Napoleon. We get to go to Chile during the wars of liberation, and a piece of high level skullduggery is carried out. readable. ( )

An honored veteran of the Napolenic Wars, Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe is drawn into a deadly battle, both on land and on the high seas. The year is 1820, and military hero Richard Sharpe has quietly passed the years since the Battle of Waterloo as a farmer. Suddenly, his peaceful retirement is disturbed when he and the intrepid Patrick Harper are called to the Spanish colony of Chile to find Don Blas Vivar, an old friend who has vanished without a trace—and who just happened to be the captain-general of Chile. Sharpe and Harper embark on a dangerous journey that carries them first to an unexpected interview with Napoleon, then on to Chile, a land seething with corruption and revolt. On land and at sea, Sharpe faces impossible odds, not only against finding Vivar, but against surviving in a time when tyranny rules, injustice abounds—Napoleon lurks on the horizon, itching to rekindle the world in a blaze of war.

SUMMARY: Five years after the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe’s peaceful retirement in Normandy is shattered by a plea for help. An old friend, Don Blas Vivar, is missing in Chile, reported dead at rebel hands - a report his wife refuses to believe. She appeals to Sharpe to find out the truth. So it is that the reluctant Sharpe and his constant companion in adventure, Patrick Harper, find themselves bound for Chile via St Helena, where they have a fateful meeting with the fallen Emperor Napoleon. Sharpe and Harper are convinced that they are on their way to collect a corpse; neither can imagine the dangers that await them in Chile. ( )

This is a fast-moving, well paced story. Though it is abridged, it still keeps the flavor of the original stories. It is set after Waterloo, which is after the original Sharpe books, but the author provides enough background information so it can be enjoyed by those who haven't read the other books. Sean Bean narrates, and nobody voices Sharpe better than the man who plays him on TV. Recommended for fans of the original series, Chilean history (the story is set in Chile) or historical fiction. ( )