Thursday, May 24, 2007

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L. A. Meyer

If you're a fan of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" you might also like this action-packed story. Eight year-old Mary is left an orphan, forced to fend for herself on the streets of London in the 1700s. She befriends a gang of street kids who beg, borrow and steal to survive. But tragedy strikes again when Charlie, the gang's leader, is murdered.

On an impulse Mary makes a choice that will dramatically change her life: she steals the clothes from Charlie's dead body, cuts her hair, changes her name, and decides to masquerade as a boy. Before long she's landed a job as a ship's boy, working with a crew to catch and capture pirates.

There's plenty of action in this story (some of it is pretty gruesome), but Mary is an ingenious heroine who makes her way in a dangerous and unpredictable world. And the suspense is always there: When will the all-male crew realize her true identity?

I'd give it a thumbs up. I hope you'll add a comment if you've read it too. And has anybody read the sequels - "Curse of the Blue Tattoo" or "Under the Jolly Roger"?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Bloody Jack is an excellent story! I have also read CURSE OF THE BLUE TATTOO and part of UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER. They are definatley not as exciting or action pacted as BLOODY JACK, but it is interesting to find out what happens to Mary "Jacky" Faber after the first book, as it ends as a cliff hanger.