Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Under the Black Ensign by L. Ron Hubbard

Book Description:
Riveting, historical accounts of daredevils, pilots and brutal madmen... Tom Bristol's career as first mate of the Maryland bark Randolph abruptly ends during shore leave when he is press-ganged into serving aboard the British HMS Terror.

Toil under the cruel whip of England is merciless: Crew members are treated as little more than chattel—barely fed, made to work past the brink of exhaustion and kept in line with a cat-o'-nine-tails. Fate finally smiles on young Bristol when the vessel is overtaken by pirates and he gladly turns coat and joins them.

Yet Tom's new pirate mates desert him quickly after he's found guilty of killing a mutinous pirate and unwittingly harboring a woman on board. Marooned on a deserted island, Tom has nothing but a small supply of water, a gun and just enough bullets to kill himself. But Tom dreams up a devious plan that will return him to the high seas and make his past adventures pale compared to what he has in store for his many enemies. . . . "Beats any Pirates of the Caribbean story you will find." —Associated Content

My Thoughts:
Fun adventure!  Tom Bristol was already a member  of the British navy but his position is changed when he is kidnapped and forced to serve on a new ship.  He is about to be whipped for disobedience when they are boarded by pirates.  The pirates take Tom on and rescue him from his beating.  He is held in high regard on their ship until he is marooned because of murder and harboring a woman.  Now he has to come up with a way to get a ship and off the island!
I enjoyed Tom.  I rooted for him the whole time.  I really disliked the man who was going to whip him and the crew/ship-men who were prepared to just stand and watch.  The plot unfolded well and I couldn't wait to get in my car to listen to more.   The twists throughout were great and I rooted for the pirates more than the regular soldiers!!
I rate this a 4/5.  It was a good, entertaining audio book that my kids liked too!

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy of this book.  I received this audio book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

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