What do you think?
Rate this book
Booty
Sullivan “Spook” Smiley, a vicious post-Revolutionary War pirate, amassed a treasure worth tens of millions of dollars through the early 19th Century, and then vanished. His treasure never surfaced, and neither did any clues to where it might be. Until now.
Judson Davis woke one Sunday morning in his apartment on the east end of Portland, Maine with a mind-splitting hangover and a strange, smooth stone in his pocket. The mischievous thirtysomething can’t remember at first exactly how he’d come to possess the rock, but he has reason to believe that it once belonged to the legendary Captain Smiley. The stone reveals a code that inspires Judson to enlist his lifelong best friend in a madcap race to track down Smiley’s treasure on the southern coast of Maine.
At the same time across town, two dangerous con-men have set their sights on Shamus McGeary, a lonely, 70 year old trust fund billionaire from one of Portland’s oldest old-money families. Determined to con the pirate enthusiast out of a few thousand dollars by selling him fake paraphernalia, the crooks are instead recruited by a shady black market dealer to manipulate Shamus into searching for Smiley’s treasure themselves.
The result is a fast-paced comic caper, as the two groups collide in their race to decode the centuries-old messages that lead to millions of dollars in buried treasure.
Judson Davis woke one Sunday morning in his apartment on the east end of Portland, Maine with a mind-splitting hangover and a strange, smooth stone in his pocket. The mischievous thirtysomething can’t remember at first exactly how he’d come to possess the rock, but he has reason to believe that it once belonged to the legendary Captain Smiley. The stone reveals a code that inspires Judson to enlist his lifelong best friend in a madcap race to track down Smiley’s treasure on the southern coast of Maine.
At the same time across town, two dangerous con-men have set their sights on Shamus McGeary, a lonely, 70 year old trust fund billionaire from one of Portland’s oldest old-money families. Determined to con the pirate enthusiast out of a few thousand dollars by selling him fake paraphernalia, the crooks are instead recruited by a shady black market dealer to manipulate Shamus into searching for Smiley’s treasure themselves.
The result is a fast-paced comic caper, as the two groups collide in their race to decode the centuries-old messages that lead to millions of dollars in buried treasure.
349 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 25, 2016
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Travis Kennedy
4 books30 followersTravis Kennedy’s work has been featured in the Best New England Crime Stories and Best American Mystery Stories anthologies, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He is the Grand Prize Winner of ScreenCraft’s 2021 Cinematic Book Contest for “Sharks in the Valley,” to be published as Welcome to Redemption. He lives in Scarborough, Maine, with his wife and their two children. The Whyte Python World Tour is his debut novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 31, 2017
I received this book form the author - a good friend of my fathers. this is Kennedy's first (I think) novel. It takes place in my home state of Maine, same as the author. This is a classic story of treasure hunters. Shamus McGeary comes from a family of wealthy business people - he's in his 70s the last of the line and living in the glory days of his (and his families past). Spook Smiley was a pirate who's escapades intertwine with the McGeary's in the past and there is a booty of pirate treasure that has been missing for 100s of years. This story is about the quest to find that and unravel history. I really enjoyed this book. Kennedy's characters come alive to me and as a Maine native I recognize many of them. He has a wit about him that actually doesn't come out quite as much as it should but I found myself laughing out loud. This reminded me of Dave Barry's "Big Trouble" in ways from the stand point of multiple groups of characters whose stories all intertwine in various ways.
Although there needs to be a little bit of polish here and there, as a first novel this was outstanding and just a fun read. I look forward to any future novels.
Although there needs to be a little bit of polish here and there, as a first novel this was outstanding and just a fun read. I look forward to any future novels.
July 17, 2020
Wow! I mean WOW!!
What an amazing adventure! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a rollicking good time. It has it all: adventure, treasure hunting, puzzle solving and lots of twists and turns. Five stars!! :)
What an amazing adventure! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a rollicking good time. It has it all: adventure, treasure hunting, puzzle solving and lots of twists and turns. Five stars!! :)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews