The Requiem Shark - Softcover

Griffin, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349111839 ISBN 13: 9780349111834

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 2000

Synopsis

Set in the 18th century's Golden Age of Piracy, THE REQUIEM SHARK is the tale of a young recruit, William Williams and his forced apprenticeship to Bartholomew Roberts, slaver turned pirate Captain. Enlisted first as a musician, then as the Captain's biographer, Williams learns to negotiate the seas of the Caribbean and West Africa recording their conflicts with the merchantmen and whores, tribesmen and soldiers that populated the ends of the known world. Influenced by shipmates, from the learned Dr Scudamore to Innocent, ex-slave and sole member of his own religion, Williams struggles to justify his own position within the Royal Fortune, as the British Navy hunt them down and the fanatical Captain Roberts drives the ship onwards to the ultimate prize - the mysterious treasure ship...Rich in historical detail and based upon the last years of the most successful pirate known to history, THE REQUIEM SHARK is a gripping adventure set in a brutal environment dominated by gold, disease and blood.

About this title

About the Author:

Nicholas was a sales rep for Little, Brown in 1990. He researched this first novel by spending a month sailing on a replica 18th Century tall ship in the Caribbean. The result is total authenticity.

Review:

Inspired ... there are moments of humour offset by vivid descriptions of lust, drunkenness, disease and deceit ... an authentic account of early eighteenth-century piracy * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW * Exciting and occasionally gruesome debut swashbuckler that replaces Hollywood conventions of swordplay and melodramatic revenge with brutally frank historical realism ... Plenty of action and horrific thrills, without a salty cliche in sight. A splendid debut * KIRKUS REVIEW * This rousing debut set aboard an eighteenth century pirate ship tells a skilfully crafted hypnotic tale abounding in mayhem and murder ... Concluding his yarn with a clever triple twist, Griffin proves himself an unusually fine chronicler of high-seas adventure * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * A marvellously exciting and breathless book ... has taken an old-fashioned subject and breathed into it modernity and considerable wit * SPECTATOR * Battles, storms and doomed young love will appeal to fans of Robert Louis Stevenson and Errol Flynn ... faultlessly rendered * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY * A gory and glorious tale of piracy..The writing is assured, and the use of journals enhances the plot and characters. Nicholas Griffin has taken an old-fashioned subject and breathed into it modernity and considerable wit. * SPECTATOR * Fascinating research... A wonderfully original blend of pastiche and the raciest action writing you'll find anywhere. * Julian Rathbone, author LAST ENGLISH KING * Griffin records in prose of studied ease that is utterly his own. The narrative is almost flawless * Ross Leckie, author of HANNIBAL * Remarkable ... a vivid and authentic picture of life at sea that is second to none. What Griffin does not know about pirates is not worth a ship's biscuit ... there is more than enough action and adventure, blood and guts, disease and death, love and cruelty, acts of loyalty and deeds of deceit to keep all but the most squeamish turning the pages * DAILY MAIL *

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group Limited
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0349111839
• ISBN 13: 9780349111834
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368