The King's Coat

By: Dewey Lambdin

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

It is 1780, and 17-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of naval discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise.

©1998 Dewey Lambdin (P)2010 Random House

more story, less soft core porn please

Dewey, if you're reading, just write a letter to penthouse next time. I don't get why some authors have to get so sexually graphic. other than that, I'd recommend this book.

Great Start

Excellent start for a terrific series. Historically correct while being thoroughly entertaining. I can only say that I wish I had more free time to listen.

a good read and intro to more, I hear

imginative, but crisp and clear as befits the subject.
leaves you wanting more of the story.

Starts out slow , but give it one hour.

Starts out slow , but give it one hour. Once you get to sea, it's an entertaining story. will purchase next book in series.

Well done!

I really enjoyed this book. John Lee's performance is great. His individual character voices are distinct and spot on. The story is very well written with plenty of excellent detail and a rousing good sea yarn. Midshipman Alan Lewrie is as good a creation as any character of the British navy set in the late 1700's. I look forward to to his future adventures.

Best of the genre

Well written, seems less cartoonish than the Hornblower and Belitho series. Can be pretty funny at times. And, of course, narrated by my favorite, John Lee. if you like the period sailing stories, you owe it to yourself to try this one.

Forewarned is forearmed.

If you're hoping, as I was, to dive into a new series you may want to reconsider.

I was enjoying this audiobook tremendously, and with less than an hour of it left, I was looking forward to starting the next one immediately. Unfortunately, the second book in the series requires 2 Credits (as do many others).

This seems to be an arbitrary condition set by the publisher — most of the books in the series are around the same length, between 13 and 15 1/2 hours, but all those 15 hours and longer require 2 Credits to purchase, even though the Member Price is only a couple of dollars more.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed. On principle alone I'm not going to use a whole extra credit for a book that's only slightly longer, and paying for it outright would exceed my monthly budget for audiobooks.

It's like a young Jack Aubrey

This is a great story of a naval hero starting out as a midshipman. The only thing that didn't appeal to me, was the sex. The sexual parts are a little too descriptive for my taste. Other than that, the story is written very well and will keep you in suspense until the end.
It's a refreshing change to hear this type of story from the start of a naval career instead of the main character already being an officer (i.e. Aubrey).
It will leave you yearning for the next book of the series. A truly fantastic read...uh...I mean listen.

Gripping and exciting

As a long time buff of sailing tales, I find Dewey Lambdin's Alan Laurie series first-rate! Fully evokes the old time sailing world and keeps me on the edge of my seat!

wow much better than I expected.

probably one of the best British naval books I've listened to. it's like Master and Commander with a dark sense of humor. well worth the credit I am downloading the next one as I write this