The fifth book in the military adventure series about Richard Sharpe, this novel concerns a band of deserters who hold Lady Farthingale (wife of Sharpe's superior) and other women hostage along the Spanish-Portuguese border during the winter of 1812. Frederick Davidson performs superbly. The hardness and hauteur of his syllable-precise delivery render well the rigid hierarchies and varied personalities of military life. For fans of the series, Davidson's readings may be definitive. G.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine