Ted Bell is constantly delivering amazing writing. With no shortage of life experiences and awe in his world traveling, Bell shows just how Hawke is continuously improving but understanding the imperfection of life. I really enjoyed this one and couldn’t pinpoint it but there was a spark in this one. Kept me glued!

Sea Hawke by Ted Bell is an exhilarating action adventure and spy novel featuring Alex Hawke, a wealthy counterterrorism officer with MI6. Alex has had a yacht custom built and wants to take a year off to sail with his son around the world. Instead his boss, Lord David Trulove wants him to combine the trip with some business. An alliance of nations are plotting to attack Western democracies and Trulove wants Alex to stop the conspiracy. It has aspects of both political and military thrillers as well as an action-adventure thriller and is the twelfth book in the Alexander Hawke series.

Alex is an intelligent and likeable character who adores his young son Alexei. From teaching him to tie knots to reading a variety of books together, their bond grows during their voyage and there are some profound and heartfelt moments. While Alex can be somewhat daring and seemingly doesn’t always address some issues when readers may want him to, he also demonstrates integrity, honor, leadership, decisive action, and friendship. I got a sense of what he is like in the down time between missions and what his hopes are for the future.

The first 25 percent of the novel was slower than I anticipated, but that allowed me to learn about Alex’s past and present, Alexei, and Alex’s friends, crew, and colleagues. This enabled me to read it as a standalone since this is my first book by Bell. However, after the slower beginning, there is plenty of action and thrills that kept me engaged and flying through the pages. Bell’s unique writing style may take readers a little while to adjust to, but it flows well and also has some humorous moments. Additionally, it highlights the dangers posed by terrorists and unstable governments as well as others that threaten democracy.

The novel takes readers on a sea voyage from England to the Netherlands to Bermuda and Cuba, and finally to Brazil. The world-building is especially good in the latter three as well as while the yacht is at sea. As with many military thrillers, there’s information on a variety of weapons and battle tactics and strategies. However, it isn’t overdone and fits with the genre and was worked into the plot well. While a lot of the action is over-the-top, it kept me engaged. I also loved the numerous literary references in the novel.

Overall, this book was suspenseful, riveting, fast-paced, action-oriented, and entertaining. If you enjoy action thrillers that have strong male characters, then this may be the series for you.

Berkley Publishing Group – Berkley and Ted Bell provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for December 7, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

MI6 operative (and English Lord) Alex Hawke plans to take his son Alexei on a world cruise aboard his new motor sail, Sea Hawke,

But there's an unholy alliance of nations who are plotting to attack Western democracies, and Hawke's wily intelligence chief plans to use Hawke to drive a knife into the heart of this conspiracy. From an island base off Cuba to a secret jungle lair deep in the Amazon, on the land and the seas, the master spy and his crew of incorrigibles are in for the fight of their lives—the fight for freedom.

Told in Ted Bell's trademark over-the-top style, Sea Hawke is pure adrenaline, pure adventure. Recommended.
#SeaHawke #NetGalley

Ted Bell delivers again. I feel like it was a slow start but the action picked up quickly. Ted Bell has such a unique writing style and is always an entertaining read!

I just reviewed Sea Hawke by Ted Bell. #SeaHawke #NetGalley I am a big fan of the series and felt this book let me down. I found it quite stale at the start and started to lose focus and come back to it. I hope the next in the series is much better.

I've read and enjoyed all of Ted Bell's Alexander Hawke series but thought the last few were not up to level of earlier books in the series. Sea Hawke, while not the best book in the series, is a big improvement over the last few books. Bell was able to tap into the magic that made the Hawke series so successful in the beginning.

Bell isn't the easiest author to read and isn't for everyone. What makes it so difficult is his style is unlike anything in the genre today and takes a while to get used to. And the big words. I'm fairly intelligent and on average I probably had to look up the meaning of a word on every page. I can see how some people could be turned off by that. Otherwise, it was a fun action thriller with a little bit of heart thrown in.

Bell enjoys putting public figures in his stories. Elon Musk is mentioned so much and with such esteem it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote the book. In all seriousness, Bell's name dropping adds a fun layer to the story.

If you can get past the big words and unorthodox style Sea Hawke is a fun tale with a bit of heart thrown in.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing an advanced copy of Sea Hawke.

I read the first three or so books in this series The first two were very good, exciting and thrilling to read and then the author began to change the character. He made him more "James Bond"- like and more of a dandy. I lost interest and quit reading. I thought I would give the author another chance but quickly realized this character is not for me. I did not complete this book but I appreciated the chance to try this book.

Sea Hawke is a wonderful throwback to the classic adventure thrillers in the vein of Clive Cussler’s works with long monologues for dialogues and souped-up toys for boys that make for cool sequences at sea.
Lord Alexander Hawke plans to take a sea voyage with his son for father-son bonding. At the same time, he decides to undertake a dangerous mission to explore the recent nefarious actions of a communist alliance to threaten the western democracy. Along the journey, Hawke has to contend with blood lusting sharks, double crosses, and naval combatants. Luckily, Hawke’s own warship, retrofitted with all sorts of advanced weapons systems, evens the odds for a fun showdown against Chinese submarines.
The narrative’s style is a fun cross between the Kingsman movies and Archer tv series, taking itself lightly in the utmost formal monologues that are often interrupted in keeping with a more realistically lesser attention span for the new generation. The tense story builds up slow but boils over with fun action sequences, including a particular favorite where Hawke stabs two sharks and drives them away. The story also shines a strong emotional focus on the relationship between Hawke and his son, presenting readers with some heartfelt moments.
Sea Hawke definitely requires some time to warm up to with a slow burn and an unorthodox style of narration best suited for the 80’s writing style. All in all, it packs grand settings in a light story that is fitting for a fun reading mood.
This review is posted with a blurb image on: https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain/sea-hawke-by-ted-bell

Another smashing tale in the Alexander Hawke series! Sea Hawke is equal parts awesome and outlandish, capturing the spirit of the best 007 stories and then taking it up a notch. It’s wildly entertaining.

Lord Alex Hawke takes delivery of Sea Hawke, the world’s premier and possibly most expensive sailing yacht that doubles as a fortified warship with an armament that rivals any naval battleship. For her maiden voyage, Hawke has decided to take 6 months to sail around the world to bond with his son Alexi and impart worldly wisdom on the young lad. However, the trip has an ulterior motive at the behest of MI-6. Communist states are attempting to form an alliance and must be stopped or WWIII is a distinct possibility. So Hawke, his crew, and usual suspects including Pelham, Stokely Jones, Chief Inspector Congreve, Harry Brock, Thunder and Lightning and the like are thrust into the middle of world changing events, including stopping a coup d’état in Cuba and crashing a secret summit deep in the Amazon. It’s a treacherous adventure on the high seas with nothing short of the fate of the world at stake.

Ted Bell has a pleasantly unique writing style that’s hard to define and can take a few chapters to get used to, but it’s effective due to witty dialogue and clashes between titillating characters within a tremendously enthralling plot set in exotic locales. In addition, the inclusion of real-life individuals such as Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk add playful realism to a story, that while plausible, is also quite mad (in a good way).

All told, Sea Hawke is another enjoyable romp around the globe with Lord Hawke and friends. A delightful mashup of James Bond, Captain Jack Sparrow, Richard Branson and the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World, Alex Hawke is the most interesting protagonist in the thriller genre today and this book is a lot of fun!