SOURCE: King, Francis. “The Tragedy of a Valour-Ruined Man.” Spectator 268, no. 8550 (23 May 1992): 36-7.

In the following review, King extols the passages concerning the high-seas adventure in Outerbridge Reach and commends the “noble and grand scale” of the novel.

In these days of radio communications, satellite tracking and helicopter rescue, to sail single-handed round the world is not as daunting an undertaking as once it used to be. But, as this fine American novel demonstrates, it is still daunting enough. It is particularly daunting for Owen Browne [in Outerbridge Reach], a graduate of the Annapolis naval academy and a Vietnam veteran, since this will be his first experience of taking a yacht out on to the high seas alone. Why then does he attempt something so foolhardy?

One reason is merely circumstance. The millionaire owner of the yacht company for which Browne has been working as salesman suddenly disappears...