Before the End: One-Eyed Willie

by Michael J. DeGrow

One-Eyed Willie is back! Only this time, he returns as a living, breathing, young teen who teams up with his sixteenth-century pals on an amazing adventure on the high seas. Willie and his friends, Thumbs, Tolliver and Twig, find themselves unwitting passengers on a pirate ship and ultimately on a quest to find Magellan’s body - and the magnificent treasure rumored to be buried with him.

Accompany these young buccaneers in their daring exploits as they encounter man-eating creatures, malevolent ghostly specters, fierce pirates, and a diabolical island chief bent on their destruction. Follow their funny mishaps and challenges as they make their way through a long, treacherous sea voyage and come to grips with adversity with the aid of Maia, an exceedingly clever island girl.

Before the End will challenge the notion that One-Eyed Willie was the ruthless pirate he was once made out to be - but rather, paint a picture of a young boy finding courage, honor and virtue on his journey toward manhood.

174 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2016

Reviews

[Emily Mohamedally · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun adventure story, that’s for sure. But I would’ve loved to see it fleshed out some more. Being only 174 pages, there isn’t really a lot of room for character and story development. I understand that this was aimed at a younger audience, so maybe those things aren’t as important, but I did feel like every scene was rushed and the story moved along very quickly. But it was still quite fun to read, so 3 stars. :)

[Shawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t write a book about a fictional pirate made up for one of the best movies ever - The Goonies - if you are just going to change the little bit of lore that was created about this character in that movie. Write a book about a character of your own creation instead of getting fans of the movie to read your book by using the name One-Eyed Willie but not connecting the character with the backstory from that movie.