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3.71 AVERAGE

cabbage_patch's review

2.0
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Exploding harpoons and marine geology are not valid replacements for plot and character development.
adventurous mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 blimey stars from this buccaneer!

Argh mateys! I had to finish it, I was obsessed with pirate treasure by the end.


This book was so much fun, action packed and I loved every damn, scurvy minute of it!

This book was packed with cool science, great engineering theory and practice, historical information and lore on pirates, a vast pirate treasure and a deadly curse on a rocky island on the coast of Maine.

Did they finally get the pirate treasure?
Did anyone survive?
Did they finally find St. Michael’s Sword?
Did greed and obsession turn friends into foes?


Read this book to find out! Another excellent and suspenseful adventure from the Preston/Child duo!
adventurous mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not my usual cuppa but I almost always enjoy Preston and Child's books. This one is suspense rather than mystery and it's lifted whole cloth from the Curse of Oak Island. If you're not familiar with that real life pirate treasure hunt, it's just that, a supposed pirate treasure burial so complex we can't find it even told (but the reality show will keep dragging on for you.)

Way back in the day Red Ned Ockham buried his treasure off the coast of Maine on an island owned by Dr. Malin Hatch's family in the modern day. Ockham had kidnapped a famous architect to help him and this thing is filled with dangerous traps not the least of which is the water pit. As children, Malin and his brother were playing there when they weren't meant to, leaving his brother dead and Malin saddled with a life of guilt.

He gets into this with Neidelman, a captain with deep pockets and a scientifically advanced crew mostly to see if he can find out answers about his brother more so than the two billion dollars of treasure including St. Michael's sword. We have computer experts, fussy cryptographers, and Bonterre, the archaeologist. On the other side we have Clay, a preacher who hates the idea of the search of gold and is trying to radicalize the townspeople against the search. And then there's Malin's ex.

So obviously most of this is about the search for treasure, mounting paranoia and eventually lots of action/adventure at the end. I enjoyed it well enough but on the other hand I'm not all that wowed. it's not one I'll remember for a long time. It was a nice escape but not much more.
adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Slow start, but it always ramps up at the end. Enjoyable.