The Pirate Chief

Pirata #5

by Simon Scarrow, J.T. Andrews, Jonathan Keeble (Narrator)

The fifth episode in the new Roman pirate series of ebook novellas from the Sunday Times bestselling authors Simon Scarrow and T. J. Andrews.

AD 25. Mighty Rome is reclaiming control of the pirate-haunted seas, endangering the livelihoods of the pirate crews. Despite their hard-won fighting skills, the pirates are losing. Until one man, a black flag captain like no others, steps in to challenge the Roman enemy ...

A vast fleet of pirate ships has gathered, black pennants fluttering in the breeze. On board are men who would slit each other's throats rather than work together. They have sailed from all directions, reluctant and suspicious, at the request of the notorious pirate Telemachus, the new captain of the Poseidon's Trident. They come in honour of the fallen Bulla, Telemachus's predecessor, not for the young upstart. But Telemachus has a message they can't ignore. The Ravenna fleet, under the command of the ruthless Prefect Canis, has destroyed their trade and devastated many of their hideouts. Once the prevailing sea power, the brotherhood of pirates now live in fear.

Telemachus has a bold plan: rather than flee or hide, attack. Fighting is in the pirates' blood. If they can entice the warships out of Ravenna, the pirate force will outnumber the remaining Romans. Then, anything is possible. For every pirate present, there's a glimpse of a future ruling the waves again. And for Telemachus, the chance to save his brother Nereus, languishing in a Roman cell. Do or die, with nothing to lose ...

Episode five in the PIRATA ebook novella series.

Genres: History

Audible Audio

Published July 11, 2019

About the author

Simon Scarrow is a UK-based author, born in Nigeria, and now living in Norfolk. He completed a master's degree at the University of East Anglia, and, after working at the Inland Revenue, went into teaching as a lecturer at City College, Norwich.

He is best known for his "Eagle" series. This is Roman empire military fiction, starting with the second invasion of Britain, and continuing with subsequent adventures in every corner of the empire. The stories are told through the eyes of two centurions, Macro and Cato. To date there are eighteen books in the series.

Scarrow has also written a series of four novels on the Napoleonic wars, focusing on the lives of Wellington and Napoleon.

Reviews

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.00

[david p finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but at times predictable

Not Scarrow at his best but still an entertaining read. Not a big fan of a series of books give me the big 1000 page blockbuster any time!!

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad ending

I thought by the end it was a little predictable. Not that the story was bad or anything, but it didn't exactly blow me away.

[Michael Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last book. The Romans under Canis are giving the pirates a hard time so Telemachus decides to band the pirate groups together to fight them. With many ships and crew at his command, Telemachus decides on an attack on Ravenna, the major Roman port in the area. It is too well fortified for a direct attack so he plans to lure most of the Romans away and use surprise as much as possible. He also plans on trying to release his brother, held by Canis.
The Roman ships are lured away and Telemachus launches his surprise attack but the Romans realise it was a trick and quickly head back. Telemachus manages to cause severe destruction on Ravenna and learns who betrayed his brother to Canis (it was who you thought it was). The Roman and pirate force clash and lots of people are killed, and Canis appears, planning to kill Telemachus' brother before his eyes, as punishment.
Of course the "good" guys win and it ends with Telemachus planning a pirate brotherhood against future attacks by Rome. His age is not mentioned in later books as possibly Scarrow realised that there would be difficulties in hard bitten pirates and fighters following a 17 year old kid.

[George Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent 5 books, you can not put them down. I was disappointed to finish number 5, and in a week too, hope he cab give us at least one more to give a lead in to the next adventure for him and his brother......Brilliant series...

[Thomas B Calder · Rating 5 out of 5]

More to come

I look forward to the next books in this series. Simon Scarrow captures the time period with an intense realism.

[Stephen Litchfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

As I have said before I really enjoyed 😂 this auther but the story is to short to books could have been put together

[Deryk Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great set of novellas, really enjoyed the whole story.