Will Inness fought for Parliament and Cromwell, but now he’s a wanted man. His crime was speaking up for his men, who were owed back pay, and pleading that they be given some land in the country for which they had fought. Cromwell’s diktat is that he arrested and executed as a mutineer, but fortunately a man whose life Will saved during the war has given him a heads up and allowed him an opportunity to escape. So, — to America, where there are a few isolated settlements in Mary Land and Jamestown, where the long arm of the law strains to reach and where the wilderness offers room to vanish. Wayne Grant offers a unique story set in an area of Anglo-American history that is largely ignored by most writers, and pulls it off to good effect.

I checked this out on Kindle Unlimited over a year ago thinking it was a story of the English Civil War: That’s not altogether wrong, but it’s not exactly accurate, either. No King is indeed set during the struggle between Cavaliers and Roundheads, between supporters of the King versus those of Parliament, but after a battle and chase in the early part of the book, we’re looking more at an early colonial thriller with the War as its backdrop. We begin on land, with war and then a manhunt, then move to the high seas where a ship dodges hurricanes and privateers as it ferries passengers to the New World while engaging in a bit of triangle trade at the same time. Will is accompanied by one of his forer men, August Dawes, as well as an African named Jubo who makes his home with the Cherokee nation. Robert Harris used this early-colonial setting for his Acts of Oblivion, which was related but different: there, an agent of the restored monarchy hunted two men who were responsible for the murder of Charles I. Here, two men who both the Royalists and Parliamentarians want to kill are the game, hunted through the dark woods of America. Both the vast strangeness of the landscape, and the presence of hostile tribes like the Seneca, add to the suspense.

No King, No Country was a surprise, but a welcome one. I’m going to try its sequel, The Long Rifles, for cert.

Highlights:

“Ideas have weight, Will.  Had Charles not believed in the divine right of kings, he might still sit on the throne today.  You and the others on this list harbor an idea that frightens Cromwell and Fairfax and the leaders of Parliament.  Men have been put to death for much less.”

“This isn’t your trouble, Gus.”
“The hell it isn’t.  You always made my trouble your trouble, Will.  Ever since we were boys.  Do you think I’d not do the same?”

“Breeding is for cattle, not men, Harry.  I learned long ago that what separates a commoner from a gentlemen is not blood.  It’s money.” For a moment Grey bristled, but then he shook his head and gave Will a rueful smile.
“I dare say you may have something there. A gentlemen’s blood looks much the same as a foot soldier’s when they’re both lying dead on the battlefield.”

“Chickahominy?”
“It’s another stream that feeds into the James a few miles upriver from Jamestown.  It’s a Powhatan name.  Lots of them in Virginia.  Names that is.  Not so many Powhatans anymore.”