In Defiance of the King

3.5 stars.
The subject matter is most definitely interesting: a young doctor kept from the front lines by his duty to his family and community, and his friendship with an eccentric spy, Jacob Moon, with whom he enjoys some unusual and dangerous adventures (Moon is also mentioned as a very minor character in Hotchkiss's title “The Spur of Danger”). But it does get slow in between those adventures, though given the unique setting I am not quite sure how the slow parts could have been avoided.

One thing I particularly loved is that the young heroine, Dorothy, is already showing grey in her hair despite her youth, and this hero thinks it makes her all the more interesting and charming.

What I didn't like is the graphic nature of a few of the scenes. The battle is described so well that I could just as well have been there, and...well, I don't want to be there. As well as a hanging and a mention of a certain person (not the hero) going around on board ship while his wet clothes were drying below decks.