Sharpe's Prey

Sharpe's Prey is the fifth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 2001. The story is set in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars .

Second Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is sent to Copenhagen in 1807 with the job of protecting a nobleman on a secret mission. Sharpe soon discovers that his task is complicated by traitors, spies and the bombardment of Copenhagen.

Plot summary

The year is 1807, and Richard Sharpe is back in England, where his army career is at an end. Without love, destitute, and relegated to the job of quartermaster, Sharpe is on the streets of London, trying to contemplate a new life away from the army. Then an old friend quite unexpectedly invites him to undertake a secret mission to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Denmark is officially neutral, but Napoleon is threatening an invasion in order to capture the powerful Danish fleet, which could replace the ships France lost in its defeat at Trafalgar.

The British, fearing such enhancement of French power, threaten their own preemptive invasion. Sharpe, whose errand seemed so simple, is trapped by the treachery that will end only when the city, which thought itself safe, is subjected to a brutal and merciless bombardment.