Wake of the Perdido Star: A Novel

New York: Newmarket Press. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. 1.32 x 9.55 x 6.49 Inches. 384 pages. A world-renowned actor and an eminent underwater archaeologist have combined their remarkable talent and experience to write an amazing first novel--a rousing adventure of men and the sea, full of authentic historical and nautical detail, at once a morality tale and a saga of heroism, friendship and love. Jack O'Reilly is a 17-year old New Englander who in 1805, sails with his parents on the <I>Perdido Star</I> to Cuba, his mother's birthplace, to claim the land she has inherited. But for Jack, the trip that began with high hopes and the excitement of a new life, becomes a descent into violence and revenge. Tragedy strikes, Jack is forced to rejoin the <I>Star</I> as a member of the crew, sailing through the world's most treacherous waters under a drink-crazed captain. His soul seared and his heart calloused, his obsession to gain revenge dominates his life. And so the boy Jackson O'Reilly becomes the pirate "Black Jack," the relentless scourge of any who stand in his path to retribution - until a daring rescue of two of his mates teaches him that there are other emotions than anger, other feelings than hatred and mistrust. Jack O'Reilly is a memorable central character, and he is surrounded by an equally unforgettable cast: Paul Le Maire, the aristocratic intellectual whose own misadventures bring him onto the Star and into Jack's confidence; Quince, the first mate, Jack's mentor and defender, as brave a man who ever sailed the ocean; Quen-Li, a mysterious Chinese cook, with more than culinary skills; Old Hansumbob, the ship's poet, whose simplicity belies a wisdom born in the heart; Yatoo, a native king, whose hospitality proves indispensable to the survival of the Star's shipwrecked men, and the Count De Silva, evil incarnate, a murderer's soul breathing beneath his surface charm. With this book, Hackman and Lenihan have revived a genre of adventure novels that will have wide appeal to men and women of all ages. A saga as engrossing as it is substantial, <I>Wake of the Perdido Star</I> marks a stunning debut for a remarkably talented new writing team. .