Rebel Privateer, Part One: A Thomas James Adventure Book 14

by Chris Clearman

It's the summer of 1862 and Privateer Captain Thomas Andrew James, MD is worried. Many of his loyal but cutthroat crewmen as well as his shipboard doxies have been captured by the Union Navy and imprisoned at Fort Warren that stands as sentinel in the middle of Boston harbor. To make matters worse several of his sons also reside behind those same iron bars and granite walls. However, Aunt Lucinda Boyles Beverley has initiated an ironclad plan of escape. True, Aunt Lucindafer (Her sailor boys contract her first name with the second-best name of the Lucinda + Lucifer) bears a reputation as the head witch of Salem. Nonetheless, her boys don't mind because her black magic protects them from harm, "Not me worry, as long as it's not my blood… my guts!" Besides, does not each of these bloodthirsty privateersmen wear a mermaid tattoo encased in wreaths of seaweed? Are they not pledged to King Neptune and is there not noblesse oblige betwixt Rex and Hecate? Thomas had best look to his own affairs beginning with the White Band flotilla, blockade runners and privateering vessels, hell-bent upon earning Our Tom yet another fortune in gold. Only the U.S. Navy stands between them and this elusive pot of gold at the rainbow's end. All Doc James needs do is whup the tarnation out of Commodore Porter's Mississippi Squadron of ironclad gunboats then engage in battle with Commodore Farragut's Gulf Squadron of 44-gun steam frigates armed with 100-pound rifled ordinance. Good luck, Doc… but nobody at Maurice's Gaming Parlor at New Orleans is laying any bets that you'll win. You'll need to capture a leprechaun and force him to grant you your heart's desire. If a little green-clad elf isn't handy perhaps you might summon a genie out of a bottle to grant you three wishes. Absent such a miracle you will soon fry in Hades alongside dozens of your former enemies that you, "Damned to hell in a hand-basket!" However before you hoist anchor and put out to sea, you'd best start kissing your sweeties Gretchen the blonde bombshell, gorgeous Kate with her gams that stretch from here to the moon, Scarlett the Redhead with a temper to match, Tanya the Tigress from Zanzibar, Suzette whom you rescued from Comanche Chieftain Buffalo Hump, Dai'tsi Lee who replaced Ming Lee so as to continue your lucrative connection to the China Trade; and last but not least Liksmi, Queen of the Maba Sultanate amidst the Spice Islands.

525 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2018