 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
Books for Adults ~ Historical
Fiction & Historical Mystery
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
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
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.”
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