Pirate Hunter

by Tom Morrisey

From the blue waters of the Caribbean and the Florida Keys to the wind-swept wilds of the Outer Banks, Pirate Hunter combines the romantic popularity of a pirate tale with an inspirational story of modern-day treasure hunters.Following a captured slave who's been freed by the sixteenth-century pirate who takes his ship, the novel weaves a rollicking tale of adventure. Paralleling this story in the present are the treasure hunters seeking the gold--and stories--of the past. Greg Rhode--a preacher's kid who has become a marine archaeologist--hires on to participate in Phil Rackham's salvage operation in the Florida Keys. He is hoping that Rackham will make him rich, not suspecting the true riches he'll eventually confront.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Pirates, Christian, Adventure, Action

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Tom Morrisey is the author of six novels and short stories, is a world-renowned adventure-travel writer whose work has appeared in Outside, Sport Diver (where he serves as Editor at Large) and other leading magazines. He holds an MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Toledo and an MFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He lives in Orlando, Florida. Visit Tom's Web site at www.tommorrisey.com

Reviews

[Ron]

Contemporary and historic treasure hunters find love and family as well as booty amid the sun and salt washed waters of the Caribbean and Gulf.

Exciting novel with two threads—one contemporary and one eighteenth century. Morrisey weaves them together but keeps each so distinct that the reader never loses track. Includes enough detail about Key West, modern treasure ship hunting, contemporary music, eighteenth century economics and politics (not to mention pirates, though not the blood-thristy, dirk-in-the-teeth type. Oh, wait. Their do board ships with their knives gripped by their teeth), and the slave trade all creating a moving mediation on the nature of love and family.

Good job. A very good read.

[Caity]

Greg Rhode is a marine archaeologist who just landed a gig with one of his role models and is beyond stoked to be included on a dive to investigate a shipwreck site that dates back...(you have to read it to know exactly how far back, and how it came to be sunk.) Meanwhile, he's plagued with bitterness towards his estranged father who he hasn't seen in ages, and hasn't forgiven in even longer.
Sheila McIntyre is an energetic artifacts analyst, as well as a diver and bluegrass-fanatic.
The two strike up a friendship that grows over time, as they work side by side uncovering and restoring hidden treasures and- possibly- family.

[Neil]

This was a fun book to read. It involves two stories told "simultaneously" in an alternating format. I thought the author did a good job of "tying" each story into the other story; it felt like natural transitions from each time period as the story moved from one chapter to the next while also moving at a decent pace. It held my interest from start-to-finish. I would say it was not overly "preachy" despite having an underlying Christian message (or thread, I suppose). The character development was fine; I would say some characters were developed better than others but that is no different than other stories.

Not sure how much of a true spoiler it is, but both of the "male leads" (Greg Rhodes in modern times and Ted [former slave and now a pirate] during colonial times) have issues of unforgiveness and loss regarding their fathers (granted, it is more Ted's "adopted" father than biological father) and learn the importance of forgiveness. It is an interesting "mirror" in that the company Greg Rhodes is working for is digging through the wreck of the captured Spanish vessel that was Ted's last ship upon which he sailed. There is also the story of both characters becoming smitten with women they recently meet - Sheila was more than a match for Greg whereas Sally was an element of her time and yet still seemed like a strong woman. There are "mild" relationship issues as both men strive to learn more about the women they have come to love (more misunderstandings between Greg and Sheila whereas there are the social restrictions that keep Ted and Sally from becoming more acquainted).

Ted hates his "father" for sending Ted on the trip to market that allowed Ted to be captured by slavers. Greg hates his father for killing Greg's mother and unborn sister due to his father's addiction to pain meds and whatever else he used to cope with life. It seemed like Ted knew more about the Bible and Christianity despite Greg's father having some experience as a Christian (being a worship leader or pastor or something). Ultimately, both men learn to forgive their fathers for failing them.

I liked that Teddy (Greg's father) was able to use his EMT experience to save Sheila at the end of the book. That was a cool moment in the book and one of the stronger scenes as well because of how Greg was expecting Sheila's being in the hospital to be his father's fault all over again and yet were Teddy not with Sheila, she would have died.

I also liked how Bold Ted found the seeing glass that allowed Sally's father to actually be able to read the Bible instead of pretending that he was following along during the sermons. It was another strong moment that allowed a bond to form between Sally's father and Bold Ted as well as helped Oscar Emmons (Sally's father) come to see Ted in a new light and develop a newfound respect for the young man.

I am not sure which stories I enjoyed more - Greg's or Ted's. Ted's story was interesting because of the amount of piracy involved [not sure why that was so engaging and entertaining, hahahah!], the captured vessels, the captured loot (that was not always gold, silver, or precious stones - oftentimes pirates apparently took other cargo such as clothing, textiles, flour, other foodstuff, ale, and other such products as well in order to sell in friendly ports), and the long chase between the captured Spanish warship and the Spanish-crewed vessel. It was crazy how "easily" Captain Henry Thatch and his crew captured the Spanish warship Valeroso that was laden with treasure (gold, silver, gemstones), but it still made for an exciting chase as the second Spanish warship sought to recover the stolen treasure while ensuring that Captain Thatch and his crew stood trial for their crimes (which included stealing a precious religious item from a Spanish ship earlier in the book).

Greg's story was interesting from a different perspective because of how it focused on his getting to know Sheila as friends as they cleaned and catalogued items brought up from the seabed before their friendship became more serious and they started dating followed by Greg's joining the actual diving crew at the site of the sunken vessel. The modern parts of the story focused on the processes involved in searching for undersea treasure, scavenging items from underwater and how to preserve them once they were brought to the surface. There is a quite a bit of technical detail (jargon?) involved, but it did not bother me. It was funny, though, how the "excitement" (such as there was regarding Greg's part of the story) was not nearly the same level as Ted's portions of the story.

I think, however, that Ted's story was probably more interesting because it felt like Greg would get "stuck on stupid" about some things but that also probably makes Greg fairly realistic because we moderns do tend to get "stuck on stupid" about things that may or may not be worth that much emotional energy despite our thinking we are superior to our ancestors. So perhaps Greg was more of a "real character" (or, more realistically described) than I realized, hahahah!

There were some moments of humor in the book, but sadly I forgot to jot them down. In any case, I did find myself chuckling at how Ted and Greg both reacted (or overreacted) to some situations (and yet were also quite human in their reactions). One moment did give me a bit of a shiver down my spine (not much; more of a tingle than a full-blown shiver, hahahah!) - a brief conversation between Ted and Thatch:
Then take us south. Or east. Take us out to sea. WE have sailed in storm before.
We have. But this is no mere storm, Bold Ted. That is what I have feared since yestermorn; that is a hurricane, and no small one. It kills ships.
duh-duh-DUUUUUH

I don't know that the book was all that suspenseful until the very end. I figured out that the Spanish vessel being studied and excavated in modern times was the last ship sailed by Captain Hatch and "Bold Ted" once they captured it, hahahah! Not much of a "guess" or "epiphany", truth be told, but I assumed the vessel being excavated was probably the Regent until Thatch and Ted captured the Spanish warship (the Valeroso) and began sailing for the east coast of America and probably a British colony in the process (I do not remember why they sailed northwards and do not care to look for it in the book, but escaping to a British American colony seems to be the most reasonable course of action and would ensure the Spanish would eventually break off and leave them be). It was clever of Ted to figure out how to destroy the second Spanish warship in one final volley before either the Spaniards or coming hurricane overtook them). Probably the "most suspenseful part" involved the reader finding out if Sheila was going to make it followed by learning that both Captain Thatch and Bold Ted had survived the hurricane. I assumed both would survive but do not know how surprised I would have been if one or both of them had died [which would have been sad for their wives, so maybe I'm glad they did not die]. I think if more of the crew had stayed with the two "officers" on the grounded warship and also tied themselves to the masts instead of the entire crew swimming to a nearby island, I might have found that moment equally if not more suspenseful (as I would have been wondering who lived and who died while not being that emotionally invested in the pirate crew because not many of the pirate crew were developed as identifiable characters). I am pretty sure Jack (Captain Thatch's first mate) did not make it and did feel somewhat sad about that.

That ending! Well, the ending where Captain Thatch and Ted are saved by the passing vessel more so than the end of the modern part of the story, that is. For some reason, I kept having the ending moment of Moby Dick running through my head, where Ishmael is picked up by the Rachel looking for her lost crewmen. Not only was it nuts how they survived being tied to the masts like they were but that the masts remained attached to the wreck of the Spanish warship. The pirate crew created a "sea anchor" using a canvas sail wrapped around heavy debris pushed over the backside of the vessel so that it would face the direction of the waves and not be pounded into pieces by the weight and power of the ocean in conjunction with the wind of the storm. Then the storm "settled" as the eye passed overhead and the crew decided to attempt to swim to the illusionary safety of a nearby island despite Thatch not-quite begging them to tie themselves to the mast with himself and Ted. But, yeah, the two men being picked up by the nameless sailing vessel was very reminiscent of Ishmael to me for some reason.

So, yeah, overall, it was a fun light reading. Nothing exceptionally heavy or weighty. As the main characters all have some "experience" or exposure to Christianity, it has elements of Christianity and "the Christian message" to it as well. I am glad I finally got around to reading it.

[Felicia]

I wasn't sure what I expected when I picked up this book, but it is a little bit of everything. There are pirates. There is some romance involved. There is a little bit of suspense at the end. And there are familial issues throughout. It was interesting to say the least.

I really liked that there were 2 stories kind of tied together throughout this book. I particularly liked how when one chapter ended pertaining to Tom, then the next chapter about Greg would start in a similar way to how the other ended and vice versa. With that being said though, I did not feel like the transitions were fluid. It would take me a bit to realize, "Oh we aren't talking about the pirates anymore".

Overall though, not bad & I'm glad I read something that I wouldn't typically pick up.

[Hannah Mann]

The best parts of this book were the transitions from the historical timeline to the modern timeline in each chapter. They were clever. But overall, did not love the writing and it felt pretty cheesy.

[Terri]

not my kind of book...won't say any more than that

[Nik Gromoll]

A fun book! The back and forth between time lines is fantastic. Really helped turn pages. I just wanted more. It felt like the outline and not the final draft.

[James Korsmo]

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for the review copy. Pirate Hunter is the tale of two young men, separated by hundreds of years but connected by a ship lying beneath the waters of the coast of Florida. One young man, Bold Ted, is the apprentice to a pirate who patrols the waters for loot with the unofficial sanction of the British government. Jumping ahead from the 18th to the 21st century, the other man is Greg Rhode, a marine archaeologist working for a treasure-hunting firm in the Florida Keys. Both men struggle to come to terms with their past, Ted with his apparent sale to slave traders by his adopted father in Africa and Greg with the role his alcoholic father played in the deaths of his mother and brother in a car accident. For both of them, these events from the past color their present, and as they each come in contact with these men from their past, they must come to grips with the truth if they are to move on. For Ted, this story is wrapped around the adventures of piracy and the pursuit of Sally, the daughter of the local inn keeper at home port. As the Atlantic is being increasingly civilized, the danger of being a irate is increasing, and Ted and pirate Henry Thatch are racing ahead of Spanish government forces who are out to get them for their past crimes. As they head toward the Carolina coast and clemency from the hand of King George, they must rescue Sally from a Spanish warship and must race ahead of the Spanish into an oncoming storm. For Greg, his past catches up with him first as the shadow that looms over his present as he gets to know Sheila, a beautiful archaeologist who steals his heart. But he then comes face to face with his father and is forced to come to grips with the tragedy that haunts his past.

Pirate Hunter is a well-written tale, somewhat in the mold of Clive Cussler. Morrisey weaves stories of the past and present together with exotic locales and interesting action. Morrisey's overall quality as a writer carries the book, even though the action lags a bit at points and the portrait of pirate life seems a bit too honorable and romantic. But I still enjoyed the book and its characters and look forward to reading some of his other books.

[Bill]

Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey is a parallel tale of two young men and the love/hate relationship they have with their fathers. This is a common theme found in Morrisey's work, one which I think he handles well in his stories. The tales do intersect in an interesting way which I am not going to reveal our of respect for the story teller.

Both tales are set in the Caribbean with the stories separated by about 400 years, give or take. The parallel tales are told in alternating sections. The first story involving a young African man sold into slavery in Africa. Surviving the harrowing passage, he is taken by pirates and given the chance to join the crew. The second story involves a young marine archaeologist given the dream job of working active wreck sites with a firm based out of Key West, but seems bent on self-destruction.

Morrisey's technical background as a diver and diving magazine editor serves him well for the modern story. He manages to present the pirates in a slightly different light than modern readers might expect. Good story-telling tension is maintained throughout the parallel tales and you can easily find yourself rooting for both sets of heroes. There is plenty of derring-do to go around.

I would recommend this story to anyone who has a love of the sea and an interest in things "piratey." It's a good read with a good message.

Morrisey's work does not get the attention is deserves, given that the Christian market is heavily slanted to romance readers. This I find to be something of a mystery as many women are fans of a certain Captain Jack. I would rate him as every bit an equal to ABA writer Clive Cussler, who by the way is a personal favorite of mine. Do take the time to seek out Pirate Hunter .

[Margaret Chind]

This novel is not incredible, but very enjoyable. Each page and chapter keeps a reader thirsting for what comes next. In a way this is both a contemporary novel and a historical. Just about every other chapter is in two different stories that are very different, but at the same time similar in theory and lesson. The characters are easy to come to admire and appreciate even the proverbial "bad guys". At times in some chapters there were parts where I felt that I was overrun with information, but then in the next part of the story I felt those two page of words were necessary after all even though while reading through them I slightly lost interest. One of the best skills as a writer that I enjoyed while reading my first novel from Tom Morrisey was the way that he opened a next chapter going from one century to another and truly weaving the stories together in a way that fit perfectly. Over all this is a pretty great book that really gets a reader into the world of contemporary treasure hunters and opens a port hole of insight into the world of repentant pirates. I recommend it.

[Christy Trever]

Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey is a wonderfully written adventure story mixed with a little faith and a lot of history. Greg Rhode is just out of college and lucky to find a job working on Phil Rackham's ship salvage operation out of Key West. His investigation of a wreck brings up gemstones that have a fascinating history that only the reader will ever know. Bold Ted was captured as a slave and then rescued by pirate Captain Henry Thatch. He signs on as a member of the Regent crew, which puts his life in danger when the Spanish go gunning for Thatch and his compatriots who stole a valuable ruby from one of their ships. The two stories move along parallel lines through manhood, falling in love, and the discovery that treasure isn't found in gold and jewels but in forgiveness and family. Morrisey gives readers just enough information about diving shipwrecks to intrigue without overwhelming them with jargon. The romances are sweet, and the adventure captivating. The two heroes are what really make this book shine. I loved this book!

[Ashley Ludwig]

Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey is one of those fun reads. A pirate on the Caribbean seas--a la Captain Jack Sparrow. <3 him. A modern treasure hunter, fresh out of school and ready to explore the Key West coast for buried treasure...a love story that has a laugh out loud moment of clarity.

Though separated by time, the main characters share a family trial that forces them into a confrontation of sons and fathers.

Read it because Morrisey is an excellent story teller. Finish it, because it's got a great dual time period story, each one of wonderful detail and inspirational message.

When it's over, you want more. The ending might be a tad rushed, but the bulk of the message is a beautiful story of redemption and faith. Great job, and will look for more books by Morrisey!

~Ashley

[Cindy Huff]

The last few books I have read lately make me wonder if there is a trend. Two stories from different times in history woven together in one novel. Such is the case with Pirate Hunters.
Treasure Hunters in the 21st century find a Spanish Galleon from the 1700s, and the author also gives a peek at how the ship got there by weaving in the history of privateers, freed slaves and life on the high seas with modern ocean archeology and diving techniques to add realism to the parallel stories. Forgiveness and redemption are the underlying themes.
Both stories are full of unexpected plot twists and bring the reader to a satisfying ending. I have never read this author before, but I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Sarah]

Pirate Hunter is one of those great historical books which ties in a contemporary story – and still makes complete sense. Tom Morrisey didn’t spend too much time on one half of the story while neglecting the other half. The combination of the two stories was fun to read, as he would mirror the ending of the chapter with the beginning of the next.

It’s been a while since i read this, but i can still remember the characters and in pretty vivid detail. It really reminds of Clive Cussler books, with a little less language and innuendo (or complete lack thereof) Definitely a fun, engaging read. It’s not a life-changing book, but is certainly a memorable one.

Three stars.

[Kristen Gurri]

Not sure why I am reading this other than it was easy to grab while the kids amused themselves at the library. Sigh.

Ok - I finished the book. It was pretty insipid. The plot alternated between past and present and flashbacks for the present narrator. The author was hellbent on making the two fun eras run parallel to each other but it was like ramming a papaya into a square hole with Gallagher's mallet. Bleah. I found myself skimming to enjoy the underwater archaeology scenes and some of the dialogue from the past. Its a beach read only if you are on a boat and bombed out on dramamine.

[Bob Allen]

Interesting and well done back and forth between 1500s and 2010s. There is romance, but it’s not gaudy or over-the-top. There are Christian characters but, at least to me, they weren’t sappy or perfect — they were real. Morrisey presents forgiveness and restored relationships without being preachy.Rescued slave and a marine archaeologist are the main characters. I’m not a literature expert/scholar, but the characters, particularly the privateer and the rescued slave, were a bit whitewashed. Not sure about the historical accuracy of the 16th century parts of the story. Still, an enjoyable read and diversion.

[Cynde]

This is a good old fashion pirate/ treasure hunting story. Two stories parrallel each other one is the tale of the Pirate Henry Thatch and his crew seizing prizes (ships) across the waters of the Carribean and selling the stolen goods in port. The other is a story of Phil Rackham and his crew of treasure hunters search for the lost and drowned treasure in the sea. This is a good story and hard to put down. The setting of Key West will be very familiar if you have ever visited there. The writer has crafted a fun tale that leaves you wanting more.

[Julieanne]

The author has done his homework in studying pirates, privateering, slavery, deep sea diving, etc. Loved having two separate stories going on at one time, that only intertwined, basically, at the very end of the book. Segues from chapter to chapter were cool, too. I really enjoyed this clean yet interesting book.

[J.M.]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book--its inventive back-and-forth narrative style, intriguing and memorable characters, suspenseful and intricately woven plot, and the fascinating detail about treasure-hunting and diving, not to mention the fun of pirates and tropical islands.

This author is quickly becoming a favorite.

[Lee Button]

I really liked this book. It is actually 2 stories 400 years apart. Morrisey cleverly switches back and forth using the same situations has a bridge. (like opening a door in 1600 and turning the page to a door opening in 2013) There is a lot of data for a fiction book, from blue grass banjo to scuba diving. Well worth the read (took me 8 hours)

[Marsha]

Interesting stories that mirror each other in the past and the present. I quite enjoyed how the stories overlap and reflect each other but only really intertwine at the end. Made me want to go rewatch all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

[Alison]

A brand new book in the church library - just waiting to be read. I enjoyed the 2 stories and the way faith was woven into them through the way some of the characters behaved. I did find some of the diving details a bit technical but it didn't spoil the story.

[Lea Groff]

Engaging!

This was a very engaging read not only between love stories but also between centuries. I would highly recommend this adventure for anyone who likes romance and mystery stories.

[Glenda]

The book started off slow for me but almost to the middle it picked up. The book brought me under the sea, pirating, and war at sea. It is done in two different points of view--pirates in history and treasure hunters in present time. A sea-adventure-kind-of read!

[Anne-marie]

Starts a little slow, more when I'm finished...great for scuba divers, eventually redeems itself with a page turning ending.

[Sally Bradley]

Eighty pages in and enjoying it. For not being a big fan of water, I love deep-sea diving adventures.

[Erik]

A lot of it was more about father/son troubles rather than about actual pirating. Still enjoyed it though.

[Richard]

Read at beach. Good story

[Susan Miller]

A great read that brings two stories together. The story of an honorable pirate, and the divers that find treasure the pirates lost. A well written page turner.

[Abigail]

3.5