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Black Jack: Behind the Waves
A strange tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Marauders on the modern-day Virginia shore. A blossoming love affair. A lost Spanish treasure galleon. And a looming paranormal struggle between a defrocked priest and a latter-day pirate. All developing on an isolated island off the Virginia coast where a single house still stands defiant despite the storms, the shifting sands, and time.
Black Jack is the first book of the Behind the World trilogy which explores the question of what unsuspected powers lurk in the people around us as we all blithely go about our daily lives. An old woman living out her final years on the third floor of that secluded house seems a kindly soul, a gentle grandmother to the younger residents. But the struggle between
pirate and priest rouses long latent abilities, rising now to enable her to protect her home, her family, and her deep, dark secrets.
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
-Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Black Jack is the first book of the Behind the World trilogy which explores the question of what unsuspected powers lurk in the people around us as we all blithely go about our daily lives. An old woman living out her final years on the third floor of that secluded house seems a kindly soul, a gentle grandmother to the younger residents. But the struggle between
pirate and priest rouses long latent abilities, rising now to enable her to protect her home, her family, and her deep, dark secrets.
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
-Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
239 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 15, 2025
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December 13, 2025
There is a whole lot going on in Black Jack: Behind the Waves, the first volume of James A. Hillebrecht’s supernatural thriller trilogy, Behind the World. The ball gets rolling after a gold coin is found in the waters near Perigal Island, off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic. The locals start to worry about the news getting out, and early on in the novel, Mrs. Haversham, an elderly woman who lives at the “House Amongst the Dunes,” says she feels a storm coming, a fierce one, and it definitely foreshadows the events that transpire in the narrative itself.
In the beginning, we find Neal Mannering trying to evict Millie Tanner and a few other residents who live at the House Amongst the Dunes. Millie and her family had been there for generations, so she was not going to go without a fight, and fight back she does, with her charm and wit. Neal cannot resist Millie’s charisma and culinary skills, and he soon ends up living there along with her brother Joe-Joe and the mysterious Mrs. Haversham.
Neal, who had come to the island to purchase the House Amongst the Dunes, gets sidetracked, and due to Millie’s charm and culinary skills, he never gets around to purchasing the house. Whenever he gets close, Millie simply steers the conversation elsewhere: “Come on,” she said. “Joe-Joe made cookies, and I squeezed some lemonade. Just the right time between lunch and dinner for a snack.”
After a local paper reveals that a gold coin has been discovered near the island, the residents are more than a bit anxious. Neal is especially concerned. Islanders are worried, and they suspect that the crowds of tourists and treasure hunters will descend on their remote little haven. They are probably right to be nervous because the coin, it turns out, may have come from an old shipwreck, the Oro del Rey, which supposedly sank nearby in 1535. The paper even reports it was “one of a very special group of the first 200 gold coins struck at the Mexican mint when it began its work back in 1535.”
Gold rush: Great news, if it isn’t happening where you live.
One of the funniest parts of the book is Millie’s deadpan nature. She fails to warn Neal about one of the island’s novel attractions: quicksand. After struggling to escape, Neal screams at her: “You maniac!… You could have killed me!” In fact, Millie doesn’t seem perturbed by any of the out-of-the-ordinary events that occur all too often on the island, and the author does a great job portraying her and every other player in the novel, building complex characters without giving away anything important.
Later on, we’ll meet Father Homer and his traveling companion, Francisco. It’s clear that the two are on some sort of quest, but their back-and-forth is very cryptic. All we know is that they seem to have been drawn toward whatever supernatural vibe is coming from the island.
We’ll also get to meet Black Jack, of course, and it’s made clear right off the bat that he is not someone to fool around with. His name causes literal nightmares for Francisco, and it should. When Jack interrogates Du Pree, trying to find someone connected to the gold, we see his true character:
“You will tell me this,” he promised du Pree softly. “You will tell me, or I shall open your head and read what is written on your brain. Now. Who? Who is it that trusts you so completely?”
However, as I mentioned earlier, this is a supernatural thriller, and there are hints that things are askew right from the beginning, as Mrs. Haversham’s prediction so clearly indicates.
As I mentioned, Black Jack is only the first in a series of three books, but Hillebrecht does a fine job with the world-building and the dialogue. Furthermore, I appreciated how the author hinted at the way in which cryptic powers sometimes remain hidden behind smooth surfaces. There is obviously something askew on Perigal Island, and the author does just what he should do here, setting up the premise, drawing complex characters, and leaving us ready to enjoy the storm that’s about to touch down. I found this to be a very nicely executed first volume of what is proving to be an entertaining supernatural adventure.
I really enjoyed James A. Hillebrecht’s Black Jack: Behind the Waves, and fortunately, I get to find out what happens next because I am reviewing volume two as well!
In the beginning, we find Neal Mannering trying to evict Millie Tanner and a few other residents who live at the House Amongst the Dunes. Millie and her family had been there for generations, so she was not going to go without a fight, and fight back she does, with her charm and wit. Neal cannot resist Millie’s charisma and culinary skills, and he soon ends up living there along with her brother Joe-Joe and the mysterious Mrs. Haversham.
Neal, who had come to the island to purchase the House Amongst the Dunes, gets sidetracked, and due to Millie’s charm and culinary skills, he never gets around to purchasing the house. Whenever he gets close, Millie simply steers the conversation elsewhere: “Come on,” she said. “Joe-Joe made cookies, and I squeezed some lemonade. Just the right time between lunch and dinner for a snack.”
After a local paper reveals that a gold coin has been discovered near the island, the residents are more than a bit anxious. Neal is especially concerned. Islanders are worried, and they suspect that the crowds of tourists and treasure hunters will descend on their remote little haven. They are probably right to be nervous because the coin, it turns out, may have come from an old shipwreck, the Oro del Rey, which supposedly sank nearby in 1535. The paper even reports it was “one of a very special group of the first 200 gold coins struck at the Mexican mint when it began its work back in 1535.”
Gold rush: Great news, if it isn’t happening where you live.
One of the funniest parts of the book is Millie’s deadpan nature. She fails to warn Neal about one of the island’s novel attractions: quicksand. After struggling to escape, Neal screams at her: “You maniac!… You could have killed me!” In fact, Millie doesn’t seem perturbed by any of the out-of-the-ordinary events that occur all too often on the island, and the author does a great job portraying her and every other player in the novel, building complex characters without giving away anything important.
Later on, we’ll meet Father Homer and his traveling companion, Francisco. It’s clear that the two are on some sort of quest, but their back-and-forth is very cryptic. All we know is that they seem to have been drawn toward whatever supernatural vibe is coming from the island.
We’ll also get to meet Black Jack, of course, and it’s made clear right off the bat that he is not someone to fool around with. His name causes literal nightmares for Francisco, and it should. When Jack interrogates Du Pree, trying to find someone connected to the gold, we see his true character:
“You will tell me this,” he promised du Pree softly. “You will tell me, or I shall open your head and read what is written on your brain. Now. Who? Who is it that trusts you so completely?”
However, as I mentioned earlier, this is a supernatural thriller, and there are hints that things are askew right from the beginning, as Mrs. Haversham’s prediction so clearly indicates.
As I mentioned, Black Jack is only the first in a series of three books, but Hillebrecht does a fine job with the world-building and the dialogue. Furthermore, I appreciated how the author hinted at the way in which cryptic powers sometimes remain hidden behind smooth surfaces. There is obviously something askew on Perigal Island, and the author does just what he should do here, setting up the premise, drawing complex characters, and leaving us ready to enjoy the storm that’s about to touch down. I found this to be a very nicely executed first volume of what is proving to be an entertaining supernatural adventure.
I really enjoyed James A. Hillebrecht’s Black Jack: Behind the Waves, and fortunately, I get to find out what happens next because I am reviewing volume two as well!
Displaying 1 of 1 review