Pirate FlagPirates and PrivateersPirate Flag

The History of Maritime Piracy

Cindy Vallar, Editor & Reviewer
P.O. Box 425, Keller, TX  76244-0425

Skull & crossbones
                  divider Skull & crossbones dividerSkull & crossbones dividerSkull & crossbones dividerSkull & crossbones divider


Home
Pirate Articles
Book Reviews
Pirate Links
Sea Yarns Galore
Thistles & Pirates


Books for Adults ~ Historical Fiction & Historical Mystery

Pirate reading bookStories Worth ReadingPirate reading book Pirate thumbs-up Pirate Treasures Pirate thumbs-up
Chambers of the Sea
Curse of the Templar Seal
New review
Marbeck and the Privateers
Most Bold and Daring Act of the Age
The Sugar StormNew review

Barbary Slave
Blood Brothers
The Bloody Black Flag
A Bottle of Rum
Captain James Lockwood
Captain Tempesta
The Devil's Wind
The Dragon's Breath
Dubh-Linn
The English Monster
Loch Garman
Mistress of the Sea
Night Wolf
Pirate King
Quest for a Throne
A Vengeful Wind

Cover Art: Curse of the
                Templar Seal
Curse of the Templar Seal
by C. Wayne Dawson
Independently Published, 2023, ebook ISBN 978-8867261795, US $3.99
Also available in other formats

In 1291, Mamluks slaughter many of the Templar knights defending the Acre Fortress in Palestine. One of those who escapes is Gilen Elissalde, who is tasked with guarding the Templar Seal. As he departs by sea, he vows, “The man who inherits this seal will avenge the evil you have done to the Templars and bring ruin to your kingdom. You will reap what you have sown.” (19)

More than two centuries pass before Duarte Elissalde is old enough to learn the truth about what happened that fateful day and begin his journey along the path that will lead him to fulfill that prophecy. Several steps are required first, one of which is to select a future wife. This he does, but he and his uncle soon find themselves involved in a wager that could result in a total loss of honor and fortune for the Elissaldes when his bullying cousin also seeks the same girl’s hand.

Another step for Duarte to accomplish is to become a squire and a member of the Order of Christ, one of the successors of the Knights Templar in Portugal. (His cousin, of course, is to join the Order of Santiago, and neither can be trusted because of the rivalry and animosity that exists between the two orders and the two cousins.) Before either can be accomplished, Venetian thieves steal the Templar Seal. They are in the employ of a Mamluk known as the Cheetah. Duarte also discovers that betrayal lies at the heart of the theft, but pursuit of the thieves and recovery of the seal, as well as restoration of family honor, must wait.

A secret and lengthy mission demand that Duarte put aside his desires of vengeance and marriage in favor of joining a special voyage at the behest of the Portuguese king. Captain-Major Pedro Cabral leads a second expedition to India to establish a pepper trade agreement that removes the Mamluks from the equation. Although the way to India involves sailing south and east, Cabral sails west and Duarte’s curiosity is aroused. The voyage that follows is one rife with danger and intrigue, as well as opening his eyes to new worlds and cultures. It is a journey that will take years to accomplish and the risks are great, for even before they are halfway to their destination, five ships are lost. Nor do the dangers and problems go away upon reaching Calicut; instead, the stakes become greater and it isn’t long before murder and abandonment, as well as survival, play greater roles in shaping Duarte into the man he will become.

Curse of the Templar Seal is a well-researched, absorbing tale of treachery, jealousy, politics, religion, empire-building, superstition, sacrifice, and murder. The characters are well-drawn and their adventures span four years. A fair portion of the story takes place on land, but several pivotal parts involve ships and oceans. Navigation is also key as the route Cabral follows leads to the discovery of the Southern Cross, and the connection between tides and moon plays a strategic role in the Siege of Cochin. This culminating event in this first book of the series pits Duarte and 8,000 soldiers and sailors against a bloodthirsty, no-holds-barred army of 80,000, as well as the deadly Cheetah. Fans of Emilio Salgari should enjoy this historical novel.



Review Copyright ©2024 Cindy Vallar


Skull & crossbones =
                      return to menu

Cover Art: Chambers of the
                Sea
Chambers of the Sea
By Alan Vazquez
Independently Published, 2021, ISBN 979-8512583876, US $4.99

The sea is a place of legends and superstitions, none more so than with the Mary Celeste. The ship floats in a place where no other vessel should be when Captain David Morehouse and his crew first spy her six miles ahead. The closer they come, the more they feel wrapped in a shroud of uneasiness, a bad omen of what lies ahead. John Wright and Oliver Deveau are sent to to investigate. Neither wishes to go, but they must heed their captain's order, even though they find themselves swathed in a dense mist. Once aboard, there is no one to be found and no clues as to what occurred. Only a voice that whispers, "Leave."

The abandonment of the Mary Celeste is perhaps the best-known sea mystery. In the winter of 1872, the Dei Gratia comes upon the derelict. Vazquez takes what is known about this event and spins a haunting psychological tale. Once spooked, a domino effect occurs, giving rise to tricks that the mind plays in order to make sense out of that which is unfathomable. What works against this are the formatting and grammatical errors, poorly worded sentences, misspellings, and missing letters or punctuation. Several italicized passages interrupt the story's flow. Although the tension level could be higher, this is a yarn for curious readers seeking more than just the facts. Vazquez includes an epilogue, which reveals what happens once the ships and crew make port.

Review Copyright ©2014 Cindy Vallar

Skull &
                          crossbones = return to menu

Cover Art: Marbeck and the Privateers
Marbeck and the Privateers
By John Pilkington
Severn House, 2014, e-book ISBN 978-1-78010-517-8, US $24.99 / UK £19.99
print ISBN 978-07278-8372-8, US $28.95 / UK £19.99

Horrified, the prisoner watches as three men are impaled alive under the hot sun in an Algerian courtyard. He expects his fate to be the same, but his life is spared if he will betray his country. If, however, he betrays the Spaniard who demands this of him, his father will suffer an excruciating death just as these men have.


Thus begins Martin Marbeck’s third adventure, in which the intelligencer* must ferret out those who wish to sidetrack peace negotiations between the Spanish and Dutch, who have come to London at King James’s behest to bring peace between these warring nations. Some of his countrymen, who still remember the failed invasion of Spain’s armada, can’t abide having Spaniards on English soil. Nor are the privateers happy with James’s desire to be seen as Rex Pacificus (the peacemaker king), for they can no longer legally plunder other ships. Lord Secretary Cecil, Marbeck’s boss, has no intention of allowing anyone or anything to disrupt the peace negotiations.

Barely recovered after someone poisons his food, Marbeck heeds the call to protect the Spanish ambassador. It is an odd assignment, since the closest he can get to the man is the house next door, which just happens to belong to his employer. Marbeck fears the task is either a punishment or Cecil’s way of telling him his services are no longer required, but the Lord Secretary knows Marbeck too well. When a nefarious acquaintance named Simon Jewkes visits the ambassador, who is then shot at, Marbeck’s curiosity is piqued. Instead of following through with his assignment, he tries to track down Jewkes, a difficult task that necessitates discarding his disguise as Cecil’s secretary to pursue the man. Then Jewkes’s name is linked with that of the mysterious Sea Locusts. Delving into who or what they are and trying to connect these disparate threads leads Marbeck down a perilous path that may cost him his life.

Even if you’ve not read the previous titles in this series, you will have little trouble following the story. Pilkington does a wonderful job recreating early 17th-century England, and the riveting prologue grabs your attention. Unfortunately, that tension dissipates with the opening chapters of the tale; once Marbeck forsakes his secretarial role and leaves London, the pace quickens and the permeating evil draws you deeper and deeper into the muck and mire until you can’t escape. Marbeck and the Privateers is similar to a provocative and intriguing jigsaw puzzle set in a time when spies had only their instincts and knowledge to ferret out the truth. If you seek intellectual mysteries, rather than those rife with gadgets and gizmos, this third book in the Marbeck series definitely tests your deductive skills.
*Intelligencer is an archaic term from the 1500s, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “a person who conveys intelligence or information; specifically an informer; a spy, a secret agent.”

Meet the author

Review Copyright ©2014 Cindy Vallar

Skull & crossbones
                        = return to menu

Home
Pirate Articles
Book Reviews
Pirate Links
Sea Yarns Galore
Thistles & Pirates


Gunner = Send Cindy a
                      message
Click to contact me

Background image compliments of Anke's Graphics