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The Crime of Martin Coverly
Key West orphan Nick Ormsby 16 reads uncle's rare old folio by pirate Martin Coverly, ghost who claims "unfinished business". After sailing to their Tortuga appointment, Nick wakes 20 Feb 1722, and believes he is his uncle Captain Coverly's apprentice. Deprivation, danger, death, and eccentric crew follow Coverly's map to King Solomon's gold mine in Africa.
- GenresFiction
168 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Leonard Wibberley
158 books41 followersAlso wrote under his full name Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley and under
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 7, 2014
Exciting, vivid, swash-buckling plus grime. Archaic phrases roll easy on the ear. Moral at end kind of disappoints. Like real history, much remains unexplained - why sleep-inducing wine, why midnight, how escape Africa.
Nick Ormsby 16, orphaned by father's sailing accident previous year, moves in with his uncle in Key West, reads rare old books on pirates, hears footsteps at night, smells seaweed on the stairs. Finally, staying awake until midnight, he meets author of a 1722 folio, full of delicate botanical drawings. Martin Coverly invites him to meet at Shark Island, Tortuga. "Why, you and I have stood together in many a hazard. Fair wind and foul, ebb tide and flow .. We have unfinished business together" p 23.
Punishments and deaths are gruesome, battles bloody. Not funny film Pirates of the Caribbean style, or boring history lesson. Hurts when "lying at my feet was a young seaman of my own age, red-haired and blue-eyed. The eyes were full of fear and he was trying with dying strength to pull out of his breast my cutlass .. I staggered to the side, sick in body and mind .. From that day forward, I grew more grave and lost many joys"" p 64.
His uncle, quiet, runs his finger round under his neck collar when nervous , reluctantly agrees to sail along when Nick "firmly" asserts he would go alone. History teacher boringly lectures them on hallucinations and facing fears. But the lad wakes 20 Feb 1721, and believes himself apprentice seaman to uncle. Captain Martin Coverly is poor, but carries a map to King Solomon's gold mines in Africa p 95.
Pirate Roberts captures their ship, needs crew, forces them to join or die, though Coverly soon takes to the life.When bad weather separates Coverly's ship from Roberts, the crew joyfully agree to seek gold. Hypocritical preachy old Sims is always villainous, but they all prefer rum to food.
Up the oily river go "a wild-looking lot", "Peachy .. all the eccentricity of a hover fly - constantly darting here and there .. but remarkably good at cutlass play" p 102. Ntelka, native shaman, warns Nick "You come from far away in Time" p 120, and Coverly "Whatever treasure you find, will not replace the value of that boy there" p 123. Crew toss and don't ration food, die rushing into traps. Between Nick and Sim's bible verses, the secret is found.
Food, wasted, runs out. Why not roast and eat huge fresh shot serpent "creature" or crocs? Alligator is good; some Chinese eat snake. "Another, gnawing on some roots that Coverly had pronounced edible, said there must be two hundred pound of meat on the creature and he would be glad of a slice of it. Such was the brutality and degradation of these men .. [Later, they] fire our muskets over the water to prevent the crocodiles from feasting on the hands struggling at the task" p 145. One deer shot, now natives peaceful, they could have hunted more game and gathered wild vegetation known to botany expert Coverly.
Typo
Inside flap "fifteen" when father dies, not when story starts
Nick Ormsby 16, orphaned by father's sailing accident previous year, moves in with his uncle in Key West, reads rare old books on pirates, hears footsteps at night, smells seaweed on the stairs. Finally, staying awake until midnight, he meets author of a 1722 folio, full of delicate botanical drawings. Martin Coverly invites him to meet at Shark Island, Tortuga. "Why, you and I have stood together in many a hazard. Fair wind and foul, ebb tide and flow .. We have unfinished business together" p 23.
Punishments and deaths are gruesome, battles bloody. Not funny film Pirates of the Caribbean style, or boring history lesson. Hurts when "lying at my feet was a young seaman of my own age, red-haired and blue-eyed. The eyes were full of fear and he was trying with dying strength to pull out of his breast my cutlass .. I staggered to the side, sick in body and mind .. From that day forward, I grew more grave and lost many joys"" p 64.
His uncle, quiet, runs his finger round under his neck collar when nervous , reluctantly agrees to sail along when Nick "firmly" asserts he would go alone. History teacher boringly lectures them on hallucinations and facing fears. But the lad wakes 20 Feb 1721, and believes himself apprentice seaman to uncle. Captain Martin Coverly is poor, but carries a map to King Solomon's gold mines in Africa p 95.
Pirate Roberts captures their ship, needs crew, forces them to join or die, though Coverly soon takes to the life.When bad weather separates Coverly's ship from Roberts, the crew joyfully agree to seek gold. Hypocritical preachy old Sims is always villainous, but they all prefer rum to food.
Up the oily river go "a wild-looking lot", "Peachy .. all the eccentricity of a hover fly - constantly darting here and there .. but remarkably good at cutlass play" p 102. Ntelka, native shaman, warns Nick "You come from far away in Time" p 120, and Coverly "Whatever treasure you find, will not replace the value of that boy there" p 123. Crew toss and don't ration food, die rushing into traps. Between Nick and Sim's bible verses, the secret is found.
Food, wasted, runs out. Why not roast and eat huge fresh shot serpent "creature" or crocs? Alligator is good; some Chinese eat snake. "Another, gnawing on some roots that Coverly had pronounced edible, said there must be two hundred pound of meat on the creature and he would be glad of a slice of it. Such was the brutality and degradation of these men .. [Later, they] fire our muskets over the water to prevent the crocodiles from feasting on the hands struggling at the task" p 145. One deer shot, now natives peaceful, they could have hunted more game and gathered wild vegetation known to botany expert Coverly.
Typo
Inside flap "fifteen" when father dies, not when story starts
Displaying 1 of 1 review