 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
Novels for Adults ~ Modern Piracy
Hawke
Pirate
Hawke
by Ted Bell
Atria Books, 2003, ISBN 0-7434-6669-1, US $25
Soon after
Alexander Hawke’s seventh birthday, modern-day
pirates board the family yacht intent on securing
a map to treasure stolen centuries before from
their ancestor. Alex’s father entrusts the map to
his son just before he stows Alex where the
pirates won’t find him.
As an adult Lord Alexander Hawke has no memory of
witnessing the brutal slayings of his parents. He
utilizes his wealth and military training to
defeat villains, especially those encountered by
his government (Great Britain) and the Americans.
One such mission -- to locate and destroy a
missing Soviet stealth submarine -- returns Alex
to the Caribbean waters where his parents’ murders
occurred. Panic attacks and snatches of memory
resurface. He finally shares the tale of the
pirate treasure and his legendary ancestor, the
English pirate Blackhawke, with his close friend,
Ambrose Congreve, a retired criminal investigator
of New Scotland Yard. While Ambrose aids in the
quest for the missing sub, he also strives to find
the barbarians who slew Hawke’s parents and to
locate the missing treasure.
Ted Bell combines piracy and arms dealing with
bio-terrorism, a coup d’état to overthrow Castro,
romance, and Special Forces’ missions to create a
spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat adventure.
Anyone familiar with pirates of yore will
recognize the real pirate on whom Blackhawke is
based (Captain William Kidd). Bell intricately
weaves a tantalizing jigsaw puzzle. The reader
slowly ponders the pieces, inserting and then
moving them, until each one fits consummately
together to create a memorable swashbuckling tale.
Review Copyright ©2003 Cindy Vallar
Pirate
by Ted Bell
Atria Books, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7432-7507-1, US
$25.00 / CAN $34.50
The
secrets in Harry Brock’s head necessitate his
abduction by the Chinese. Lord Alexander
Hawke, descended from an infamous 18th-century
pirate, rescues the American spy from the Star
of Shanghai, which is docked in France.
This is no coincidence, for these two nations
have allied with each other to put into motion
a plot to forever change the world. First, a
rising star in French politics must gain the
presidency, but not through ordinary means. He
hatches a diabolical scheme with the aid of
General Sun-yat Moon’s top assassin to rule as
his ancestor, Napoleon Bonaparte, once did.
Stokely Jones, a former SEAL and trusted
friend of Hawke’s, explores a hidden castle in
the Bavarian Alps with Jet Moon, a beautiful
actress and ex-spy for her father, to learn
the dark secret of Leviathan. The
first stunning clues lead him to an
underground airbase built by the Nazis, then
to General Moon’s inner sanctum in Hong Kong.
At the same time, Chief Inspector Ambrose
Congreve (another of Alex’s friends) digs into
Luca Bonaparte’s past while someone, possibly
Ambrose’s own nephew, is out to kill him.
This is the third Alex Hawke adventure, but
each book stands alone. Although slow to
start, Pirate builds to a
mind-jarring conclusion that promises to haunt
readers long after they finish reading. From
Marrakech to Cannes to London to Oman to Paris
to Hong Kong and Coney Island, this novel is a
whirlwind of diabolical intrigues and
appalling machinations that pit nation against
nation and threaten to unleash World War III.
There is little piracy in this thriller, but
the premise explores a parallel to modern
piracy: maritime terrorism. Ted Bell’s deftly
woven chess match pits two nations with
nuclear capabilities against each other in a
struggle over oil, the world’s most precious
commodity.
Ted Bell & Cindy
Vallar at Dallas, Texas book signing
Review Copyright ©2005 Cindy Vallar
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