Sharpe's Devil

Napoleon and South America, 1820-1821

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Rupert Farley

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, another exciting adventure in the world-renownedSharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Five years after the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe’s peaceful retirement in Normandy is shattered. 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.

Sharpe, along with Patrick Harper, find themselves bound for Chile via St. Helena, where they have a fateful meeting with the fallen Emperor Napoleon. Convinced that they are on their way to collect a corpse, neither man can imagine that dangers that await them in Chile…

A good story but slow to get really interesting.

I almost bailed half way thru the book. Grad I didn’t. The second half was pure Richard Sharpe.

A great storyline but lacking some of what makes Richard Sharpe so enigmatic.

The build up to the story was amazing, but the final confrontation was lacking. We are used to Sharpe going mano e mano with the villain but this time, the villain committed suicide. The taking of the various fortresses was way too easy and it just felt like we were cheated from a great ending worthy of Richard Sharpe.

How I hate that everything must come to an end!

Like all the books before, this was a well told story and a testament to Mr Cornwell’s art! Rupert Farley has done his usual stupendous job of narrating again. I will never think of Richard Sharpe or Patrick without hearing Mr Farley’s voice. Thank you for many hours of pleasure!

The writing

A good end to the series it was one of my favorites. Cornwell really captures history with a fun twist

It keeps the story going.

It's a bummer when a good series comes to an end. Therefore, it was fantastic that this book carried on the story of Sharpe and Harper. I foolishly wasn't paying attention to the subtitle dates (not obviously visible on mobile) and just went by book numbers in the Audible app. This book is listed as book 21 while Sharpe's Assassin is listed as Book 22. However, this book takes place 5 years AFTER assassin. So, read this after that if you are looking for chronology.