The First to Land

By: Douglas Reeman

Narrated by: David Rintoul

The dramatic sequel to Badge of Glory, China 1900. When the Boxer Rebellion erupts into bloody war. The Royal Marines, true to their motto, are the first to land - and the last to leave. Again, a Blackwood is in command.

©1998 Douglas Reeman (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Okay, but not as good as most of Reeman’s

As with some of Reeman’s other novels, the world historical context for this story (the Boxer Rebellion) was only a little familiar to me. That led me to do some research on the side and helped make the action part of this story more captivating. This was greatly offset, however, by Reeman’s habit of including an illicit and implausible romance, which in this case is told in language so much like a poor romance novel that it sometimes made me want to gag. I don’t know whether I can make it through another of his novels if the romance factor is so ridiculous. Meanwhile, I can only give The First to Land three stars.

Left me wanting more

Normally that's a good thing, but in this case I wish the story went longer. I'd have liked to have heard more about the Boxer Rebellion. This one seemed to have wrapped up quickly, like the author ran out of gas suddenly.