By Dufaux & Jérémy
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849181655
Cinebook already have one excellent pirate series under their belt, and sailing into harbour comes another, but offering a very different kind of tale.
This first book is largely based in the port of Puerto Blanco, safe haven and home to the pirates that stalk the seas of the Caribbean. One such ship is the Barracuda, captained by Blackdog, and with his bloodthirsty and viscous young son Raffy at his side. They board a ship, cutting through its crew, but one nobleman, De La Loya fights on resulting in Blackdog's cocky offspring challenging him one-on-one. It doesn't end as planned, and De La Loya is cast adrift with his freedom.
Down in the ship the pirates discover a woman, two girls and a monk, although the pirates aren't to know that one of the girls is a striking blond boy, hastily dressed as a female to protect him. Not only do the pirates take them all prisoner for the slave market but they also discover that the woman has a map which points to the Kashar diamond, a jewel of fabulous wealth. With thoughts of the riches it would bring Blackdog sets sail for Puerto Blanco to offload the slaves and take on supplies, but he has no intention of hanging around long. Unfortunately the other occupants of the island have their own agendas and soon snippets of information are being gathered by the inhabitants, not least from the sale of the new slaves from the boarded vessel.
The enslaved woman, her daughter and the disguised boy are all sold to different owners, while the monk takes an opportunity to escape. The girl, Maria, comes off the worst from the sales, and despite her age is pounced upon by the lecherous slave trader resulting in some harsh treatment for someone so young.
The disguised boy, Maria and Raffy's fates appear to be intertwined, and they all appear as determined and sure of themselves as each other. By the end of the book this almost ends in tragedy for one of them as their paths cross, and the stage is set for them to run into one another again.
This is a grittier, dirtier side of pirate life, devoid of the romance of many similar tales, but this grounding makes it much more interesting as the characters feel vulnerable and at the mercy of those around them. Dufaux and Jérémy have masterfully steered this book away from cliche with a combination of strong writing and some sensational artwork. An excellent opening to a new series.
And if you liked that: Book 2 sets sail soon
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