One of my favorite genres is Historical Fiction so I looked forward to reading the Montevideo Brief. This is a good choice for all those who love pirate stories intertwined with with historical events taking place 1804 during wartime among Britain, Spain, and France as they aimed to protect their naval fleets and the tons of gold aboard them as well as the hope of increasing their Empires. The main character, Thomas Gray, an agent for HIs Majesty's Secret Service, has the dangerous job of preventing Spain from delivering the 2,000 tons of gold to Spain as it travels from South America back to Spain when he must capture their fleet of 4 ships. Many adventures occur with Gray as he travels from South America and runs into trouble with little time to spare for his important mission for Britain. Gelernter has done great research to keep the story historically accurate as he creates an adventurous novel. However, at times his writing style becomes labored with too much description such as when he spends pages on the minute description of the game of tennis which is off topic from the story. I think the novel would benefit greatly from further editing and tightening up these long descriptions. Montevideo Brief is a great story to tell with many exciting adventures to keep the reader engaged.

I would recommend this book as a beach read or a good read after you have read a series of nonfiction or heavy drama books and need something entertaining to read. I wanted to like this book as I enjoy a mystery laced with humor but this book was not a page turner. The story did not flow and I hope the author in the future uses less adjectives in his writing and less lists to describe the scenery. He has a great idea for a new series of mysteries using an Auntie Mame character as a witty detective.