Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I would think about this book (The Pirate Devlin). I bought the book, so obviously, I thought I would be interested in a story about pirates at some point. I know that I’ve had it for several years at least, so when I started filling up my To-Be-Read cart, I decided to throw this on toward the top.

I think that, deep down, I just wanted to get it over with. I know that’s a bad attitude, but as you can see from nearly all of the other books I’ve talked about, it doesn’t fit cleanly into my favorite genres.

Genres… Who am I kidding? I pretty much only read science fiction. Having said that, though, I do think it’s good to branch out and read other things from time to time. In fact, I was talking to a friend at work yesterday who recommended reading the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. You might be familiar with it, as it was first published in 1974. It’s a story about a father and son taking a motorcycle trip. That’s all I know about it so far because that’s all the information that is available on Goodreads about the book. This book doesn’t fit into my usual list of reads either, but I decided, “What the heck,” and I grabbed a sample of it from Apple Books. I’m not quite through the first chapter, but it definitely has my interest piqued. I think I might spring the $15 and add it to my library.

$15?! Dear reader, I have been advised that I have entirely too many books and that I will never read them all. Actually, I take that as a personal challenge, and I will, in fact, read them all. Before I die. Maybe. Hopefully. So, in an effort to make room for other things in my office/library, I’m in the process of boxing up most (not all) of the books and putting them in the attic, where, hopefully, they will not be destroyed. My goal is to bring down one box at a time, read through the entire box, and then sell or donate all but my absolute favorites. Unfortunately, that means no more Half-Price Books for me. 😭

I love technology, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve had difficulty adapting to the e-book lifestyle. I love to see my books on the shelf, and I love the smell and the feel of paper. There’s just something about ink on paper that an e-book cannot reproduce. I suppose that something like a Kindle with e-ink technology gets pretty close (though it definitely isn’t the same thing – just sayin’), so if somebody wants to get me one of those for my birthday, I’d be willing to give it a fair shot. In the meantime, I’m going to explore using Apple Books as a source for new books since I have Apple products galore that I can use as an e-reader.

Anyway… I just felt like I haven’t been connecting with you as much as I should lately. I’ve got a lot of books that I need to catch up on writing about here, but in my haste, I failed to just talk with you. I’ll try to do better about that going forward.

The Pirate Devlin

by Mark Keating

Synopsis

The year is 1717, and Patrick Devlin is a young man, once the servant of a notable British captain, but captured by a band of pirates. Patrick is a sly devil indeed, however, for he knows French and the ways of celestial navigation. These are skills to be sought after on a pirate ship.

When Devlin’s new pirate captain is badly injured, even unto death, during an excursion gone awry, Devlin steps in as the new captain. Of course, senior members of the pirate party are quite skeptical of young Devlin’s ability to lead, so he must quickly divert their attention with the promise of gold. You see, Devlin has, in his possession, a note that promises the holder a treasure of gold if only he can find it.

And that is where the adventure begins.

My Thoughts

Although I was skeptical of this book at first, I really did enjoy it, if for no other reason than that it is fun to talk like a pirate. And I did a lot of talking like a pirate between September and November of 2022 while I was reading this book.

Side note: Did you know that September 19th is the official Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day? Mark your calendars.

The book is clearly historical fiction, and Keating unashamedly explains that the characters are fictional, though they are based on historical examples. If pirates are your thing, you’re going to love this book. And if you need more, keep in mind that this is only book one of four, so you can keep your pirate fantasies alive for even longer.

For fans of historical fiction, particularly young adults and adults, this book will be an enjoyable read. This is an island-hopping, all canons firing, sword clashing, walk-the-plank kind of good time.

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I’ve made the move to Substack.

Come check out my two publications on Substack:

https://davidsheley.substack.com

https://theartifact.substack.com

The first is a post-for-post replacement of this blog. The second is a brand-new publication where I publish short stories.