Pirates of Pensacola

by Keith Thomson

The Cooke and Hood families have been at each other's throats since the Spanish Main days. The latest chapter in their piratic rivalry takes place in 2004, when an old treasure map turns up. None of this seems to matter to Morgan Cooke, a cowardly, landlubbing accountant entirely ignorant of his heritage until his estranged father, Isaac, in need of crewmen, kidnaps him and thrusts him into the fray. When Morgan wakes up on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean, he learns that piracy still flourishes, albeit with far more discretion than in the old days--pirates disguise their fast boats as shrimpers or tugs--but with no less bloodshed. Judging even a shot at riches vastly preferable to a return to his lonely, fluorescent-lit work station existence, Morgan pierces his ear, dons the eye patch and peg leg, and set sail for glorious adventure.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Humor, Pirates, Contemporary, Mystery, Novels

309 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Keith Thomson has been a semi-pro baseball player in France an editorial cartoonist for Newsday and a screenwriter. Now a resident of Alabama, he writes about intelligence and other matters for The Huffington Post. His novels include Once a Spy, a New York Times Best Seller, Twice a Spy and Pirates of Pensacola.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have read this book anyway, it was a great book, one of the best I’ve read. It’s about two families: the Cookes and the Hoods. They’ve been going at each other and stepping on each others’ throats since the Spanish main days. The main characters are Morgan Cooke, Isaac Cooke, and Avery Hood.

After a few chapters, a treasure map shows up. Then, once Isaac finds out he sets off to find it. He kidnaps his son, Morgan, and takes him on an adventure…………

The bad guys they encounter are interesting, mean, good with a sword, and ready to fight. For instance, they run into cannibals. The cannibals were only wearing a piece of cloth on their privates (scary!). The cannibals have long black hair covered in blood. They have blood dripping out of their chapped lips, their bodies dripping with blood and terrible senses of humor.

Isaac and Morgan find the treasure map and find the treasure when Avery shows up on his ship and attacks them. Avery steals the treasure from them and tries to kill them, and gets close to his goal: He stabs Isaac right in heart and cuts Morgan on both arms so he couldn’t fight back. But the sea police showed up and saved them not knowing that they were pirates for they could be hung for that.

If I was Morgan or Isaac I would be scared to death. They encounter too many fights, and I would freak out on the 3rd one I meet. (Not counting the ones with my friends and teachers and my mom and my brothers and my cousins and, well, you get the idea.) And I would be slaughtered in one fight against MORGAN. Sure maybe I would block a few strikes but not all of them. Morgan isn’t the best swordsman either, he’s about as good as a random 11 year old that is in 5th grade but should be in college (Harvard to be exact).

Background story:

It was Morgan’s birthday party and he was 10. He was having it at the arcade. His dad (a.k.a. Isaac) was going to a costume party dressed as a pirate. Isaac totally crashed the party, stealing jewels from the Queen of England l. Morgan was stuck at the arcade and it wasn’t much of a birthday when his dad never came back when he promised Morgan that he would pick him up. What he didn’t know is that his dad had gotten arrested and put in jail for 27 more years. But Morgan got out of the arcade and started working for Vail and co. He was an accountant for about 18 years. Then his dad showed up in his apartment and they had their adventure……

[Rick-Founder JM CM BOOK CLUB · Rating 5 out of 5]

UTTERLY MAGNIFICENT!! Very Very funny and absorbing modern pirate tale..impossible to put down!

[Patrick O'Hannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were very amusing. I like the way Morgan started out as a put-upon accountant, but over the course of a surprising week, discovered his inner pirate. That said, I can't give the book more than three stars because I thought its tone, while comic throughout, was uneven. Thomson's story pinballs from parody up to farce and back down again. And unlike the characters in Carl Hiaasen's comic novels about crime in south Florida, many of the people in this book die violent deaths. Even within the pirate (or "pyrat") milieu, it seems a shame to play with murder as a comic device.

My favorite part of this novel was when Morgan's father, fresh out of prison, regales his captive son about the history of piracy. That happens in chapter 9, while both men are aboard a stolen yacht.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watching Morgan the accountant dragged kicking and screaming (at first) into a pirate treasure map search is absolutely hilarous.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Todd sent it to me saying it was hilarious. I failed to get it but it was a good book. Not funny to me, however.

[Clickety · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun; good dynamics between the characters.

[Christa Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

Morgan's dad Isaac disappeared when he was a kid, off to prison. This was bad timing because his mom had just died. Morgan is taken under the wing of Herb Flick, he grows up to become a middling accountant. He is basically an office drone at the Vail Company when his dad shows up unexpectedly and drinks the last beer from his fridge. There are some unresolved issues between father and son, to say the least. Soon, however, they are on an adventure, looking for lost treasure that Isaac hid before his time behind bars. Seems like Isaac has lots of people who remember him from the old days. Although this starts out as a kidnapping, Morgan eventually goes all in on the adventure and he learns to admire and trust his dad. Swashbuckling fun.

[Mary Jannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something deeply comic and deeply human about a man who discovers his entire bloodline is steeped in piracy and responds not with horror but with the quiet realisation that this explains rather a lot. Morgan Cooke is the kind of reluctant hero whose cowardice is more honest than most characters courage, and watching him navigate a rivalry centuries in the making, armed with nothing but an ear piercing and stubborn survival instinct, is enormously good fun.

[Jerrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really what I expected it to be from reading the first few pages. Didn't really like it

[Bill Mock · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was great. Swashbuckling brought to the 21st century. Edge of your seat action. Captain Roy is my new favorite fictional character!

[Celeste Hansel]

ebook

[LuAnn B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a man’s book of pirates & sword fights. It did entertain me though, and now I want to watch the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies again!

[Lace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on a giveaway on goodreads. This story is a rollicking adventure between a man and his father, who is a pirate but has been in a correctional facility for the past fifteen years or so (the pirate part is unbeknownst to his son). The father, Isaac, gets released and immediately kidnaps his son, Morgan, from his dull accounting job, to help Isaac find his hidden treasure. Only problem, the people Morgan works for are from a long line of pirates (the Hoods) who have been feuding for decades with Morgan & Isaac's family (the Cookes) and have kept Morgan in the dark about his family. After a skittish Morgan and his tough-as-nails father commandeer the Hoods' yacht and sail for the Caribbean, a whole host of comedic and evil characters are introduced to them on their search. Morgan embodies his pirates blood and becomes more like his father every chapter of the story. I loved this book... It has rowdy humor, a little sweet old-fashioned romance, a beautiful setting, and bad-ass pirates. The author gives both a history lesson in pirating and also exhibits how present-day pirating exists. The colorful description of the islands in the Caribbean made me want to book a plane ticket pronto, but I settled on enjoying a margarita while being sucked into this heartwarming, swashbuckling tale.

[Mark]

I picked this book up (on Kindle) solely at the recommendation of The Pirate himself, Ol' Chumbucket (of Talk Like a Pirate Day fame). At $0.99 on TLaPD I couldn't pass up such a well recommended book.

The book itself was a bit slow to start but once the ride got moving, I couldn't wait to find out how it would end. There's plenty of twists and turns as you try to determine what is reality and what's just the wild dreams of a madman. While not the best book I ever read, it's certainly, by far, the best pirate book I've ever read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad pirate book. It reads a bit like a movie with appropriate one liners and gotcha moments. Mixing a bit of humor. With some killing scenes offered a book that at times was unsure of itself. The style appears to be somewhere in the middle between Gus Openshaw and his newer ASpy novels as far as seriousness etc. Either way i would have to give a favorable review and not just because he spells his name the proper way.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

To distinguish this, from my many 4 star ratings, i I gave this five stars. (It probably doesn't quite deserve it), but I truly enjoy everything that Keith Thompson writes. His main characters seem to be fathers and sons, all adults, and the father is usually the heroic one and the son is somewhat nerdy in comparison.

This one has a good deal of history of pirates in the Caribbean. Father and son are descendants of the famous pirate Captain John Cook, from the 17th century.

[RachelAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A zany tale about the CPA who suddenly learns of his descent from an ancient and notorious pirating family. Swashbuckling ensues. Not as thoroughly satisfying as Hiaasen or Moore, but it'll definitely do in a pinch.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious and touching all at once. It is a feel-good read for me (in fact, I'm looking forward to re-reading it soon). A father and son are reunited, there are pirates, and then there's that alcoholic parrot.

[LeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly charming book. Recommended by Chumbucket, one of the "Talk Like a Pirate Day" founders, I wasn't sure what to expect, but this modern-day pirate story was a great read. Funny, exciting and poignant in turns, it kept me riveted right to the end.

[Scott Honey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story line and plot are great, original. Modern day main characters crash into family past and famous history. Midway to the end a little bit too much time spent on the battle/struggle. Waited for climatic end, but it took awhile to get there.

[Alan Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, I read it in two days on my Kindle. The story lifts plausibly (which is a tribute to the author's good writing) from one implausible level to the next in non-stop action which includes a skilfully developing renaissance of a seemingly lost father son relationship.

[Darcee Kraus · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as excitement goes, this story could have used a bit more; however I adored the idea of a treasure map showing up and inspiring this adventure. I wasn't extremely impressed but was content while reading.

Darcee Kraus
Mckinleyville, CA
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlassGlass

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty silly!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting part on the history of pirates, but there did seem to be A LOT of fighting scenes...liked the ending, though!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable summer read.

[Grayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy, light read . . . parody of another book . . . cute and quick.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read with some laugh out loud moments. and who doesn't like pirates?

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly improbable, but entertaining pirate yarn.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed this book!

[Mike Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pirates of Pensacola

Fun read full of pirate lore and adventure. It's a little different from the authors other books in that there were no says.