A Return to Duty, the eighth volume in the award-winning Cutler Family Chronicles series, is set in Massachusetts and the Orient in the early 1850s during the aftermath of the First Opium War fought between China and Great Britain. The subsequent flood of opium into North America and Europe, from Turkey and the eastern provinces of India through China, threatens the very fabric of America. As a premier carrier of goods along Far Eastern trade routes, Cutler & Sons, in league with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy, plays a key role in the struggle to eliminate the scourge of narcotics. Family loyalties, core values, and passions are woven into a plot that takes the reader from Boston to Washington, and from Java to Hong Kong and the Gulf of Tonkin, in a savage conflict with cutthroats and brigands who defy their emperor to amass huge fortunes by ransoming sailors and smuggling opium. The fate of Cutler & Sons and the future of Western civilization hang in the balance.

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“A seamless blend of history, a page-turning plot and unforgettable characters. To Distant Shores is an unputdownable, entertaining read that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a well-written novel that engages the heart and mind.”

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Literary agent, amateur historian and sailing enthusiast Hammond sets his sprawling debut novel, the first in a series, in the crucible of the American Revolution. The maritime action follows the adventures of Richard Cutler, a young rebel who signs on as a midshipman aboard the Ranger, a sloop-of-war of the fledgling Continental navy captained by John Paul Jones. Cutler's motives are independence for his country and revenge for his older brother, Will, who was seized from a merchantman and flogged to death by the Royal Navy. Serving alongside Jones on the Ranger and later the Bonhomme Richard, Cutler fights in dramatic sea battles and meets many of the key characters in the Revolution, including Ben Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette and John Adams. He also shares his romantic interest in British beauty Katherine Hardcastle with a young British naval officer, but his capture off the British coast could mean he misses out on the war and the woman. Drawing on five years of historical research and a lifetime of sailing, Hammond vividly recreates an early chapter in American history.

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William Hammond is an impressive author able to breathe life into his characters and envelop his reader's total attention from first page to last. An outstanding continuation of a highly recommended series, How Dark the Night is highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library historical fiction collections. These are the kind of books from which blockbuster movies and award-winning television mini-series are made!

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. . . William Hammond sticks with his engaging and award-winning formula of embedding his early 19th-century characters in the culture, people and politics of the time.

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William Hammond spins a captivating tale set against the endeavors of a young nation and a family seeking to find its way in a politically and personally complicated world. How Dark the Night—and the entire Cutler chronicle—shine a glorious light on America's rich maritime history.

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As always, the naval, family, and political threads are woven together in an excellent, well-written, and believable narrative by the author as [Hammond] explores the early history of the young nation. I look forward to reading the next in the series. Recommended.