Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "hispaniola"

The Buccaneer Coast by James L. Nelson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As far as Spain is concerned, the New World belongs to it, not interlopers from France, the Dutch Republic, or England. To take back what is theirs, a Spanish force attacks the islands of Saint Christopher and Nevis and lanceros hunt boucaniers on the northwest coast of Hispaniola. LeBoeuf and his partner are stalking wild pigs when lanceros pursue them. Le Rongeur, a thief and abhorrent man whose only good qualities are his swiftness and his aim, flees. LeBoeuf expects this to be his last day, yet still he stands his ground and lashes out against his attackers.

A fleet of Spanish galleons and warships near their destination, Santo Domingo. Among their passengers is the new lieutenant governor of Hispaniola, Don Alonso Menéndez de Aviles, and his wife. Her father has the money and power, but Don Alonso knows this will not be for long. Traveling among the other vessels is a French ship laden with a surreptitious cargo and secret papers that will allow him to acquire the wealth and influence that he so desperately craves.

Benjamin Graves is either lucky or unlucky. It has always been so and now seems to be a mix of the two. He has lost the cargo that he stole from his employer, Señor Corregidor, because the Spanish attack Nevis, but being aboard his appropriated vessel, he has eluded the invaders. However, he fails to elude Maja, Corregidor’s henchman, and is now on his way back to Santo Domingo to await a fate worse than death . . . unless he can change his luck, which often happens if given the time to talk his way out of a hopeless situation. Two such opportunities present themselves – Spanish ships in pursuit and, later, pirates – and Benjamin has a plan, if he can get Maja to listen.

Maja is a brute of mixed blood, who keeps his own counsel and follows orders. Like capturing Graves and returning him, the ship, and its cargo to Santo Domingo. The problem is he has two of the three and Señor Corregidor will not be happy. But Maja is also savvy and waits for opportunities to present themselves. Like Graves’s risky schemes to elude their Spanish pursuers and to trick the pirates into making a fatal mistake. He knows that sooner or later he will no longer be just property. He will be free and more powerful than the man who owns him.

The Caribbean is a dangerous place, not only because of the various factions claiming ownership, but also because Mother Nature is an unpredictable force that unleashes her fury when it suits her. A hurricane obliterates LeBoeuf’s way of life, yet leaves behind hope for a new life. The same tempest wreaks havoc on Don Alonso’s plans, almost as much as those who are far more experienced in the ways of the New World do. The storm is the catalyst that propels these four men onto pathways that will eventually collide in wrathful ways that promise to be just as life-altering as the devastating effects of the hurricano.

This is the first book in a new series that brings to life the men who hunted wild pigs, but were forced to become the bane of Spain’s colonial empire. Nelson precisely sets the stage for the titles that follow and he does so in a way that makes the reader antsy for their next rendezvous with the characters. He provides maps and a glossary to assist those unfamiliar with Hispaniola and nautical terms. Adept readers may notice some sentences with missing and wrong words, as well as a few misspellings, but the action and character depth easily overcome these. There are a few words, like prithee, that may catch the reader by surprise, but they help recreate the time period. The constant use of Don Alonso’s full name, or even those of a few other Spaniards, may become tiresome to some readers, but they help establish the necessary pompousness of a character, as well as the strict formality of Spanish society.

The Buccaneer Coast is a tale of hope, betrayal, and the brutal reality of life where the best lessons learned may involve unlikely allies and the best way to survive is to trust no one. Nelson vividly depicts life as boucaniers and skillfully demonstrates a plausible way in which these men became buccaneers. A masterful storyteller, he takes simple scenes and crafts them into spellbinding events that transport readers from the present back to the seventeenth century where they experience individual lives as if they stand side by side with the characters.




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The Tortuga Plantation by James L. Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


With their camp decimated by a hurricane, Jean-Baptiste LeBoeuf leads his fellow boucaniers to the neighboring island of Tortuga. He neither wants nor asks them to follow him, but his occasional spoken words lead others to agree with him. Since he cannot recover the sunken treasure, he is driven to immigrate because of a letter of patent discovered before the shipwreck sinks. He plans to assume the identity of the owner and take possession of the plantation. Beyond that, his plans are unknown.

Henriette de Labonté accompanies him because she’s safer with him than without, but she has no ties to this silent, impulsive, and giant Frenchman. She has a single goal – to return to France – and the sunken treasure will allow her to do this. It is why she keeps her silence . . . for now.

One other man knows of the gold: Hendrick Van Lauwersoog. A former naval officer, this Dutchman is wily and not one to be trusted. Still, he’s promised to remain silent about the treasure . . . for now.

Don Alonso Menéndez de Aviles has dreams and plans for his new life as lieutenant governor, the second highest ranking official in Santo Domingo. He craves wealth and power but is a novice when it comes to Spain’s New World empire, and those who have come before already have their footholds well established. It doesn’t take long for him to realize who his true enemies are, and a riot and the presence of Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, Captain General of King Philip IV’s Ocean Sea Navy, permit him to lay the groundwork to upend his nemesis, the city’s mayor. This scheming also allows him to set in motion a business strategy that involves the lawless island of Tortuga.

The reader soon learns that nothing and no one are as they seem in this second installment of the Blood, Steel & Empire series. Each has secrets, some of which Nelson slowly reveals at key points in the story at just the right time. In doing so, his characters realize that their pasts are never as buried as they think and what happened then influences what unfolds now.

During the 17th century, the boucaniers of Hispaniola are driven from the island where they hunt wild pigs. Some migrate to Tortuga, but the Spanish are keen on keeping out foreigners from their lands. This eventually pushes these boucaniers into piracy and over time, their name becomes anglicized to buccaneers. Nelson weaves a compelling historical novel that demonstrates how and why this shift occurs. His portrayal is historically accurate and the facts are intricately woven into the story in ways that keep the reader from noticing them. He includes maps of Hispaniola and Tortuga, a ship diagram, and a glossary for readers as well.

Intrigue, betrayal, greed, corruption, murder, and battles both on land and at sea abound. Although fiction, The Tortuga Plantation is steeped in reality; readers who are squeamish about blood and guts may want to pass on this story that vividly recreates the Spanish Caribbean of the early 1600s. This is also a tale of power struggles where circumstances make for strange bedfellows; one day a man may be an ally, the next an enemy. Readers soon realize why LeBoeuf prefers to live one day at a time and fully trusts only his mastiff, Other Dog.


This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers (http://www.cindyvallar.com/JLNelson.h...)



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