I enjoyed this book immensely; it had everything a good
seafaring yarn should have. A captain haunted by the past and teetering on the
brink of insanity. A plucky heroine in the shape of French stowaway Catherine.
Hiding below decks was another female, a
crew member, pretending to be a boy. Our anti-hero Harry; who went seeking
adventure but got rather more than he bargained for. Add to this a rebellious crew
and you have a powder keg of a pirate ship and all the elements of a gripping
story. Captain Archer is a great character and we get inside of his whisky
fuelled mind. He is temperamental and unpredictable and he took his ship and us
the reader in some unexpected directions. The story is set against the back
drop of a period where privateers no longer had the backing of king and count and
some, like our captain, turned to piracy. Also the events that took place in
Port Royal, Jamaica, in 1692. I Love reading historical novels and doing some
further reading on Wikipedia to get more factual information. I couldn’t fault
the writer on her research and the way she brought this particular time in
history to life. But even if history leaves you cold, this is a riveting
adventure story first and foremost.
