Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "cuba"

The Black Ring: The Nicholas Fallon Sea Novels, #2 by William Westbrook

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Keeping accounts and working in the office are not Nicholas Fallon’s cup of tea and after weeks of such busy work, he’s more than ready to return to the sea. His partner, Ezra Somers, founded the Somers Salt Company of Bermuda; his daughter, Elinore, is the love of Nicholas’s life. When a message requests Nicholas’s presence on Antigua, both are wise enough to know that the sea is as vital to him as blood. With his schooner refitted, he collects his crew, including his childhood friend, Beauty, and his coxswain, Aja. Beauty lost her leg in an accident many years ago, but she is the bravest person Nicholas knows and a superb second in command. Aja has grown from the scared, mute boy left to die on a sinking slave ship, to a vital member of the crew with hopes of one day captaining his own vessel.

Upon their arrival at English Harbor in Antigua, Nicholas joins Rear Admiral Harry Davies aboard his flagship. Although Nicholas is not part of the Royal Navy, he has, in the past, assisted them and the two men are good friends. This time Davies asks Nicholas to ferry a senior intelligence agent to Cuba, where the man can quietly slip ashore to discover whether there is sufficient dissatisfaction with Spain to warrant British help in undermining Spanish control of the island. As a privateer, Nicholas can go where the Royal Navy cannot. On a more personal note, Davies requests that Nicholas seek out a woman whom Davies cares for in Matanzas.

Always on the lookout for opportunities to take advantage of his letter of marque, Nicholas’s curiosity is aroused when they sight strange sails. The ship far surpasses his schooner in armament and men, but she runs up both a Spanish flag and a white one before asking Nicholas to come aboard. Since England and Spain are at war, it could be a trap, yet he accepts the offer. He doesn’t buy the captain’s story, and his doubt is confirmed when a passenger slips him a note saying they are actually prisoners. Still, there is more to the situation than the Spanish captain admits, which triggers one of Nicholas’s out-of-the-box ideas that results in the capture of the enemy vessel.

Nicholas and his crew also cross paths with pirates led by a ruthless defrocked priest known as the “Holy One.” They intercept secret communications between France and Spain that necessitate a visit to Haiti to warn Touissant Louverture. Then there are the captured runaway slaves and Davies’ friend at Matanzas who ae in need of rescuing before they face a firing squad. Beauty sustains a wound from which she may not recover, and news of her condition results in a deadly encounter with the Holy One for Ezra and Elinore.

Interspersed throughout the book are italicized chapters that recount the tale of a captured African warrior who is sold into slavery. These tell the story of Young David, who eventually crosses paths with Nicholas and Aja. All are vividly drawn, such as the portrayal of the slaver’s battle with pirates that unfolds from David’s perspective while he and the other slaves are chained belowdecks. Several are gut-wrenching depictions of the Middle Passage and life as a slave on Cuba. Yet entwined within them is an everlasting hope to reclaim his freedom, no matter the cost.

The myriad subplots are intriguing and expertly intertwined with the main part of the story. From first page to last, Westbrook snares the reader and doesn’t let go in this enthralling second Nicholas Fallon novel that surpasses the first. Spiced with gifted ingenuity and daring escapades, this nautical adventure is not to be missed.




View all my reviews

Harbor of Spies: A Novel of Historic Havana by Robin Lloyd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


At the end of January 1863, the Laura Ann arrives at Havana, but is unable to enter the bay because night has fallen. Nor can she return to open waters because a Confederate gunboat is out there hunting merchant ships flying the Stars and Stripes of the United States. Acting captain Everett Townsend is debating what to do when he hears shouts coming from the shark-infested water. He rescues an injured man named Michael Abbot, who has just escaped from El Morro Castle.

Cuba is an enticing mystery to Everett because it is the homeland of his mother, but once she left the island, she refused to speak of it or her family. Helping the injured fugitive comes naturally to him since his family aids runaway slaves passing through Maryland. But Cuba is a far cry from the United States, and being a Good Samaritan sets in motion a series of falling dominos with dire consequences for Everett.

Abbot has been investigating the murder of an English diplomat that was swept under the rug, but there are those with power and influence who don’t want the matter reopened. They become aware of Everett’s assistance and, soon, he finds himself imprisoned and unable to contact anyone. The Spanish officials believe him to be a spy, an executable offense. Don Pedro Alvarado Cardona offers him a lifeline. The cost, however, is almost as disgraceful and distasteful as when Everett was booted out of the US Naval Academy. If he wishes to live, he must become a Confederate blockade runner. Havana is nominally a neutral seaport; in reality, it is a depot where Confederate ships can load British armament to smuggle into the South or unload cotton and other goods that would otherwise rot in blockaded Southern ports.

Everett reluctantly accepts Don Pedro’s offer, but vows to escape at the first opportunity. That chance doesn’t come. Instead, he is offered a chance to visit the plantations where he comes face-to-face with the realities of slavery and people who knew his mother. A foreign diplomat offers Everett a way to change the current path his life is on, but it requires him to gain the trust of Don Pedro, a suspicious and mysterious man who has many secrets.

Harbor of Spies takes place over a span of six months – a time that may seem short for the reader, but is an eternity for the characters. Lloyd has crafted an intricate web of interconnected subplots and enigmas that subtly ensnare those who venture into the past that was Old Havana, where societal disparities were rampant and no one trusted anyone. A real diplomatic murder serves as the catalyst and the depth of Lloyd’s historical research is evident throughout. He provides vivid portrayals of slavery, human trafficking, manipulations, crime, blockade running, corruption, espionage, jealousy, and romance. This is a story where everyone wears a mask and nothing is as it seems.




View all my reviews

Hidden Galleon: The True Story of a Lost Spanish Ship and the Legendary Wild Horses of Assateague Island by John Amrhein Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A sunken Spanish ship. Legendary ponies. A barrier island off the Virginia coast. These are ingredients that inspired Marguerite Henry to craft what became a well-known children’s story, Misty of Chincoteague.

Oftentimes, legends have their basis in fact. As centuries pass, divining what is truth and what is fiction becomes difficult. Research plays a key role in this endeavor, as this narrative clearly demonstrates. In this case, the journey begins at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Amrhein discovers a letter, written by a Spaniard, to Maryland’s governor in 1750. The information leads Amrhein to believe it will be easy to find what remains of the sunken vessel. (Yes, that incident actually occurred.) It also leaves him with an unanswered question: If finding the wreck is so simple, why has no one done so? As he soon learns, his supposition is anything but easy. The journey will span years and involve a court-martial, a con man, a ship that never sets sail, fraud, uncooperative governments, and legal battles.

The true beginning of this voyage is neither the ponies nor the hunt for a hidden shipwreck. It starts in August 1750 in Havana, Cuba, where Don Daniel Huony is the captain of La Galga de Andalucia, a worn-out warship built nearly two decades earlier. She can carry 632 tons worth of cargo and measures 120 feet from stem to stern, but numerous tweaks and modifications have left her less seaworthy than in her early days. After taking on cargo and passengers, including English prisoners taken captive by Spanish privateers, La Galga escorts five merchants on their journey to Spain. It is late in the year to be voyaging, but delays have left Huony little choice. They encounter a hurricane soon after their departure, which scatters the fleet. La Galga successfully navigates the seething water and wind until Assateague Island, where she strikes an impediment that damages her hull. Unable to stem the water flowing into the ship, Huony orders those aboard to abandon ship; all but five make it to shore.

Amrhein uncomplicates a series of convoluted episodes from recent and distant history to provide readers with a comprehensive and straightforward account that fascinates and astonishes. To further enhance the reading experience, he provides endnotes, a bibliography, an index, illustrations, diagrams, charts, and two sections of color plates. For those who enjoy mysteries and tales of searching for shipwrecks, The Hidden Galleon masterfully achieves both.


This review originally appeared inPirates and Privateers (March 2023) at http://www.cindyvallar.com/adultpirat...



View all my reviews