From Publishers Weekly

The England that Capt. Matthew Hervey returns to after heroic duty at Waterloo and in India scarcely resembles the one he left merely a year before. As Mallinson recounts in lively detail, it's now 1817 and political agitators chip away at the established order, criminals prowl the streets and unemployed soldiers, trimmed from her majesty's bulging forces, bloat the ranks of the lazy and useless. Hervey, saddened by the state of his beloved country, rejoices at his new assignment: second in command of his old regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. Soon, however, the dashing, fiercely loyal officer begins chafing under his new commander, the pompous, sadistic Lord Towcester. Having been promised a promotion once Towcester steps down, Hervey struggles to keep a stiff upper lip as he leads his Dragoon regiment on missions to ambush French smugglers on the Brighton coast and squash marauding Luddites in Nottingham. Sent to Canada, Hervey takes his wife, Lady Henrietta, along with him; in the New World disaster strikes, causing Hervey to vow vengeance on Towcester. Mallinson (Honorable Company) brings this third entry in the series to a close as Hervey teams up with U.S. troops to lend a hand with the westward expansion, setting the stage for a frontierlike adventure next time out. Mallinson's otherwise highly entertaining, cleverly executed plot suffers occasionally from excessive period detail and a dearth of suspense. His prose, however, is sure and steady, and his deft treatment of the honorable yet never priggish Hervey makes him a hero readers will not only root for but follow into battle.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this third in a series (after Honorable Company and A Close-Run Thing), Capt. Matthew Hervey returns from India to England in 1817, where his Sixth Light Dragoons are guarding Brighton and dealing with French smugglers. Later, by sharp contrast, the setting moves to America during the Indian Wars. The villain throughout is Lord Towcester, Hervey's cowardly and inept superior officer, who is bent on destroying his underling's career. This, of course, leads to a bitter showdown. In addition to the barracks scenes, readers also get glimpses of domestic social strata via vignettes of Hervey's marriage to Lady Henrietta Lindsay. Acknowledging the influence of Patrick O'Brian, Mallinson set out in this series to tell a similar story among the cavalry, and he succeeds nicely. Recommended, especially for public libraries. Fred M. Gervat, Concordia Coll. Lib., Bronxville, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When she finds out about the asteroid headed for Earth, Lucy knows that her family are some of the lucky ones. They have a farm, away from the chaos of the cities, with abundant food and fuel, and good weather. But finding out you're all probably going to die in two months is a quick way to discover how much everyone takes for granted.

A novella of 20,000 words, or approx. 70 pages

The world has just found out that it’s going to end, with a huge unstoppable asteroid hurtling towards the planet. Claire is in Toronto with her two young sons. Her husband, Tom, is on the other side of the country and must find his way home in an increasingly chaotic landscape.

This is a parallel novella to that follows Lucy’s sister and brother-in-law.

Available in e-book and paperback.

ALLAN MALLINSON’S and stirred readers and critics with the military adventures of young Captain Matthew Hervey at the Battle of Waterloo and amid the harsh terrain and treacherous intrigues of India. Now, in 1817, Hervey returns to an England whose hard-won peace is shaken by the distress and discord of its people. And even as he is caught up in the turbulent dawn of a new era, he must combat a deliberate attempt to orchestrate his own ruin.

The honors he won in India fell short of Captain Matthew Hervey’s deepest desire — to return to his beloved 6th Light Dragoons. But now circumstances allow him to resume command of the unit — and to marry the beautiful Lady Henrietta Lindsay, whom he has loved since childhood. Meanwhile, however, his soldier’s heart is pierced by the sight of men in British scarlet crippled in the service of king and country, now forgotten and cast off, reduced to begging and petty crime. It is no wonder that rabble-rousers clamor for reform and that lawlessness is erupting everywhere, from the cities to the countryside.

As for Hervey’s own cavalry, guarding Regency Brighton and ambushing French smugglers in midnight coves, he finds them, too, vastly changed. Their new lieutenant colonel, Lord Towcester, is a cold-eyed martinet — vain, inept, and bigoted — who cares less for the welfare of his men than for keeping the shine on their gleaming brass buttons. Moreover, it soon becomes clear that he will stop at nothing to bring about Hervey’s disgrace and downfall. For in this young officer, a war hero and former aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, Towcester sees all that he himself once forfeited through cowardice.

But the scandal that haunts Towcester is an old and secret one and to expose it would cost Hervey his rank, the command of his beloved Sixth — and the means to support his radiant, passionate bride. Even the charming and determined Henrietta, not above a little politicking in high places to right wrongs, is unable to diplomatically put a stop to Towcester’s vendetta.

As the Industrial Revolution builds and food riots give way to rioting Luddite mobs, Hervey’s troop is posted to counter the threat of a general insurrection. But his field tactics and peacekeeping vision are jeopardized by enemies both within and without. And then fate calls his regiment to the dark frozen wastes of a distant frontier, where another people’s way of life is being destroyed by the march of change, and where tragedy and bloodshed will force a showdown between Hervey and his nemesis.

1817 and 1818 have not been good years for Matthew Hervey. His beloved wife Henrietta is dead and he is no longer in the Sixth regiment. Now he is kicking his heels in a corrupt and unruly England far removed from its once glorious past. 1819 sees Hervey in Rome with his sister Elizabeth where a chance meeting with man of letters Percy Bysshe Shelley leads him to rethink his future. Realizing just how much he misses the excitement of military action and the camaraderie of his regiment, Hervey hurriedly purchases a new commission and is refitted for the uniform of the 6th Light Dragoons. Hervey’s most immediate task is to raise a new troop and to organize transport, for his men and horses are to set sail for India with immediate effect.

What Hervey and his greenhorn soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face one of their toughest trials. A large number of Burmese warboats are being assembled near the headwaters of the river leading to Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves an arduous and hazardous march through jungle territory. What begins as a relatively simple operation becomes a journey into the heart of darkness, as Hervey and his troop find themselves in the midst of hot and bloody action once more.