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A Prequel to Treasure Island #3
Skull and Bones
When infamous 'gentleman of fortune' Captain Flint is captured by the Royal Navy and condemned to hang for mutiny and piracy, it seems that the secret location of his buried treasure will die with him. But Flint has an audacious plan to gain command of ship and crew before they reach London and escape the hangman's noose.
Meanwhile, aboard Flint's former vessel The Walrus, Long John Silver seeks one final prize before retiring from privateering. However his wife Selena has jumped ship to pursue a career on the London stage - only to fall into a trap - so Silver must give chase to save the woman he loves.
Once more Flint and Silver's paths are converging ... and it will bring them a vast fortune or certain death.
Meanwhile, aboard Flint's former vessel The Walrus, Long John Silver seeks one final prize before retiring from privateering. However his wife Selena has jumped ship to pursue a career on the London stage - only to fall into a trap - so Silver must give chase to save the woman he loves.
Once more Flint and Silver's paths are converging ... and it will bring them a vast fortune or certain death.
383 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2010
About the author
John Drake
21 books163 followersJust in case anyone's interested ... my latest Fletcher (Flying Machine) is up and running and selling well. Happy days.
I have just finished the third of my Londinium books (that's Roman London AD 100) and it should be out later this year: 'Gods in Londium'. My usual mixture of bloodstained savagery, plus authentic period detail.
Moving further on ...
'The Fletcher Companion' (all you need to know about Fletcher and his world), will also be available some time this year.
Beyond that, the next Fletcher for March 2023 (if the Lord spares me) will be 'Fletcher and the Constitution'. That's the US Constitution, and it's in deadly peril.
Mind how you go.
John Drake
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 2, 2019
This book is the final book in the trilogy leading up to the start of the classic ‘Treasure Island’. Despite this book having one of my favourite descriptions I’ve read in a while, I still felt this book was a little repetitive of storyline and it kinda dragged because of it. The surprise introduction of some well known historical figures was a bit of a shock but again felt like the author was looking for subject fodder. But saying all this, I did enjoy the book, it just wasn’t my favourite of the trilogy.
January 10, 2013
I am a sucker for pirate stories and this final instalment in the Silver and Flint trilogy was a fitting finale. I haven't read Treasure Island for years but am now compelled to get it and refresh my memory.
The concept that John Drake came up with to provide a back story to Treasure Island was brilliant but needed to be carried out meticulously to do justice to the original. In my opinion RLS would be honoured by the works created by John.
The way the story shifts from the Caribbean to Engand and then to North America was excellent. Long John Silver is such an excellent character and enables really believable interaction with other colourful characters like King Jimmy of the mudlarks. His nemesis - Joe Flint is equally intriguing if not so likable. His villainy is palpable and there is always the sense of what might have been with him if not for his father and his severe religious upbringing.
The division of the men by Selena is the crux of the story. It was very interesting to see how her story unfolded under the 'care' of Katty Cooper.
I would recommend anyone who likes a good yarn to don an eyepatch, strap a parrot to your shoulder and read this trilogy.
The concept that John Drake came up with to provide a back story to Treasure Island was brilliant but needed to be carried out meticulously to do justice to the original. In my opinion RLS would be honoured by the works created by John.
The way the story shifts from the Caribbean to Engand and then to North America was excellent. Long John Silver is such an excellent character and enables really believable interaction with other colourful characters like King Jimmy of the mudlarks. His nemesis - Joe Flint is equally intriguing if not so likable. His villainy is palpable and there is always the sense of what might have been with him if not for his father and his severe religious upbringing.
The division of the men by Selena is the crux of the story. It was very interesting to see how her story unfolded under the 'care' of Katty Cooper.
I would recommend anyone who likes a good yarn to don an eyepatch, strap a parrot to your shoulder and read this trilogy.
February 18, 2011
For some reason, I really wanted to read a book about pirates. The cover of Skull and Bones popped out at me while browsing at the library.
The story follows Captain John Silver and his arch-nemesis, Joe Flint. Eventually the two meet again as the story unfolds. Before the meetings, you will read about battles at sea, treachery, hangings, and what it means to be a gentleman in London. The climax of course is a battle with armies and pirates (something I wished would of happened in the third Pirates movie).
I did finish and enjoy the book but it took me a while (a good book keeps me reading no matter what). I did not know that this was the third in a series of books and I do plan on reading the other two, Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island and Pieces Of Eight.
The story follows Captain John Silver and his arch-nemesis, Joe Flint. Eventually the two meet again as the story unfolds. Before the meetings, you will read about battles at sea, treachery, hangings, and what it means to be a gentleman in London. The climax of course is a battle with armies and pirates (something I wished would of happened in the third Pirates movie).
I did finish and enjoy the book but it took me a while (a good book keeps me reading no matter what). I did not know that this was the third in a series of books and I do plan on reading the other two, Flint and Silver: A Prequel to Treasure Island and Pieces Of Eight.
April 7, 2016
Third of John Drakes Flint and silver books. As I have said before in my reviews of the first two books, an excellent read. loved everything about this and the other two books. J.D has a new fan. Now looking forward to reading his other books.
July 4, 2020
Incredible! Left me wanting more and more!
August 30, 2020
Flint and Silver dual
A good story and it fills in the love and hate relationship but who survives and gets the trophy will it be gold or lady.
A good story and it fills in the love and hate relationship but who survives and gets the trophy will it be gold or lady.
April 8, 2021
I tried to read this. I did. I like pirate books and thought the premise very intriguing. I have not read the other books in the series, but I do feel this did well enough as a stand alone. I did not feel lost or that I was missing content. I was just bored. I couldn't connect with the characters. In the end, I could not be motivated to finish - and I don't just not finish books. Maybe you'll get into it and enjoy it, and I hope you do, but I think it's just not for me.
July 3, 2024
A wonderful trilogy complete! This book mostly takes place in London, where a wealth of information of the times and place are revealed. This is a fantastic conclusion to the story that begged to be told when relating the story of Treasure Island. With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson, taken as a whole, these three books are better, and more exciting and compelling than Treasure Island.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
November 27, 2021
3.7
This was my least favourite of the three books describing the events that lead to Treasure Island, but that's not to say it was a bad read by a long shot. There was too much London and too little treasure (until the last third of the book), but the story was well-paced and with enough twists to keep me engaged. Makes me want to go ahead and read Treasure Island (again) right away.
This was my least favourite of the three books describing the events that lead to Treasure Island, but that's not to say it was a bad read by a long shot. There was too much London and too little treasure (until the last third of the book), but the story was well-paced and with enough twists to keep me engaged. Makes me want to go ahead and read Treasure Island (again) right away.
October 13, 2017
2.5 stars (but I rounded it to 3). I liked this book least from the triology. John Drake adds a lot of history to this book, but if confounds the story too much for me.
June 9, 2022
3.5 - Really entertaining, but all the “Huhs and Aarghs” got tiresome. Probably authentic to how a character may speak, but it’s annoying while reading.
August 7, 2011
What a great name for a writer of pirate tales, eh? John Drake. Not that Francis Drake was a pirate (quick look on Wikipedia has just told me that Francis Drake was a privateer, which is not so dissimilar from a pirate!) but I think he knew some things about boats.
I don't know anything about boats, except that they make me feel incredibly sick. But I love how I can follow three whole books chock full of nautical terminology without breaking a sweat or suffering a headache. I don't know how John Drake does that, but I do always know exactly what he's talking about - at least I think I do. He doesn't patronise me by sticking in a landlubbing and stupid character who needs to have everything explained to them either. He just chucks his readers in at the deep end and expects them to swim.
So, this, Skull and Bones, was the final part of the Treasure Island prequel trilogy - should the books be called a trequel? Yes, I think so. Was this book satisfying? I think so. Did it lead on to Treasure Island nicely? Certainly. Would I recommend the trequel? Wholeheartedly. Now, I would not say that I was disappointed with Skull and Bones, not at all: it was excellent, stunningly written by a master of his craft, an absolute joy to read. I could read ten more, twenty more.
With a prequel, you necessarily have to manoeuvre the story into position to allow the main story to take over smoothly without too much of a change of tack (did you see what I did there? A nice mash up of nautical metaphors). That was all fine, and I could see that two particular characters had to be brought back together in order for both parts of the map not to be lost. But what I did miss in this book was Flint's evilness. In the first and second books, ooh, he was bad - a finer baddy you could not have wished for. He was nasty, and his favourite pastimes were inflicting terrible injuries on anyone he cared to mutilate, and then watching them die gruesome deaths. Another person's pain never failed to make him giggle, he was an absolute delight to read, wonderful. I have never enjoyed a baddy more. It was clear to see that Drake knew the character of Flint inside out (as far as Flint allowed him to, though I am sure Flint guarded his most secret thoughts from Drake), because he was so well written, so vivid and alive. As was Long John Silver - but Silver was glorious in Skull and Bones, and I liked him just as much as I ever did. But poor Joseph Flint had lost his sparkle for the most part, and I missed it. It was part of the story, and it worked so nicely, really it did, the taming of Flint - however short-lived - but still I missed his games. I'm sure John Drake probably did too.
Long John Silver captured my heart from the beginning, and he held it fast until the end. What maiden could fail to be won over by such niceties as 'bugger me, clap a hitch, you filthy swabs!'? Not I. I loved him, and always will, no matter how I find him to have been drawn by Stevenson in Treasure Island.
It's Selena who I still can't get on with. I still find her a bit insipid, a bit whiney, too indecisive. I want to give her a slap and tell her to decide who and what she wants. And I can't really see what Flint and Silver see in her, except that she's stunningly beautiful, and the only woman the two pirates encounter in their years of sailing back and forth across the Atlantic (apart from some haggard old whores*!)
But all in all, a bloody good read. I am sad that my seafaring adventures are over, because I know that Treasure Island, however good it is, will not have the humour and wit that Drake infused his stories with, and it won't have the tantalisingly naughty undertone that he sometimes plays with. But I have hopes of it being exciting, and look forward to meeting again some of the characters that I feel I know so well now: Billy Bones, Israel Hands, Black Dog, Ben Gunn, and not to mention Long John himself.
Bravo, John Drake, bravo!
*John Drake's word, not mine; he also calls them 'tarts'.
I wrote a review of the other two books in the series a few months ago, Flint and Silver, and Pieces of Eight. You can read that review here, on HubPages.
I don't know anything about boats, except that they make me feel incredibly sick. But I love how I can follow three whole books chock full of nautical terminology without breaking a sweat or suffering a headache. I don't know how John Drake does that, but I do always know exactly what he's talking about - at least I think I do. He doesn't patronise me by sticking in a landlubbing and stupid character who needs to have everything explained to them either. He just chucks his readers in at the deep end and expects them to swim.
So, this, Skull and Bones, was the final part of the Treasure Island prequel trilogy - should the books be called a trequel? Yes, I think so. Was this book satisfying? I think so. Did it lead on to Treasure Island nicely? Certainly. Would I recommend the trequel? Wholeheartedly. Now, I would not say that I was disappointed with Skull and Bones, not at all: it was excellent, stunningly written by a master of his craft, an absolute joy to read. I could read ten more, twenty more.
With a prequel, you necessarily have to manoeuvre the story into position to allow the main story to take over smoothly without too much of a change of tack (did you see what I did there? A nice mash up of nautical metaphors). That was all fine, and I could see that two particular characters had to be brought back together in order for both parts of the map not to be lost. But what I did miss in this book was Flint's evilness. In the first and second books, ooh, he was bad - a finer baddy you could not have wished for. He was nasty, and his favourite pastimes were inflicting terrible injuries on anyone he cared to mutilate, and then watching them die gruesome deaths. Another person's pain never failed to make him giggle, he was an absolute delight to read, wonderful. I have never enjoyed a baddy more. It was clear to see that Drake knew the character of Flint inside out (as far as Flint allowed him to, though I am sure Flint guarded his most secret thoughts from Drake), because he was so well written, so vivid and alive. As was Long John Silver - but Silver was glorious in Skull and Bones, and I liked him just as much as I ever did. But poor Joseph Flint had lost his sparkle for the most part, and I missed it. It was part of the story, and it worked so nicely, really it did, the taming of Flint - however short-lived - but still I missed his games. I'm sure John Drake probably did too.
Long John Silver captured my heart from the beginning, and he held it fast until the end. What maiden could fail to be won over by such niceties as 'bugger me, clap a hitch, you filthy swabs!'? Not I. I loved him, and always will, no matter how I find him to have been drawn by Stevenson in Treasure Island.
It's Selena who I still can't get on with. I still find her a bit insipid, a bit whiney, too indecisive. I want to give her a slap and tell her to decide who and what she wants. And I can't really see what Flint and Silver see in her, except that she's stunningly beautiful, and the only woman the two pirates encounter in their years of sailing back and forth across the Atlantic (apart from some haggard old whores*!)
But all in all, a bloody good read. I am sad that my seafaring adventures are over, because I know that Treasure Island, however good it is, will not have the humour and wit that Drake infused his stories with, and it won't have the tantalisingly naughty undertone that he sometimes plays with. But I have hopes of it being exciting, and look forward to meeting again some of the characters that I feel I know so well now: Billy Bones, Israel Hands, Black Dog, Ben Gunn, and not to mention Long John himself.
Bravo, John Drake, bravo!
*John Drake's word, not mine; he also calls them 'tarts'.
I wrote a review of the other two books in the series a few months ago, Flint and Silver, and Pieces of Eight. You can read that review here, on HubPages.
May 27, 2023
Enjoying as a child [with a book not for children]
May 28, 2014
I really enjoyed this entire book, until the end left me with questions that I know won't get answered. And that makes me sad.
Even so, I loved this trilogy, and recommend it to anyone who's down with a good pirate story.
Even so, I loved this trilogy, and recommend it to anyone who's down with a good pirate story.
Read
December 6, 2017Usually when you read a trilogy, the third or last book is about the final push toward the goal, the culmination of efforts to achieve success, or the end of a voyage or trek to a homecoming.
In John Drake’s third book in the series, Skull and Bones, you read how Flint and Silver fail to obtain their treasure or reconcile their differences. This neatly sets up Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island at the beginning of his classic tale.
They, or at least Silver’s crew, is already on the island holding the treasure. Flint succeeds in dealing with Silver’s crew and the threat they posed to his wealth. The next thing you know, another interloper drives them all from the island.
In the process Silver regains his ship and convinces the crew to sail for England and redemption of a kind. Flint, without a ship or a crew, finds suitable accommodation on an English warship and also heads for England and his own attempt at redemption.
Although that redemption may not all work out as they each hope, they leave England as one crew, with Flint and Silver each holding half of the map to the treasure and heading for the island to reclaim it. But greed, jealousy, and Fate conspire against them, and the survivors leave empty-handed and altered by the experience.
John Drake’s Flint & Silver trilogy is wonderfully entertaining, and I heartily recommend the books to anyone thinking of returning to Treasure Island! And there’s also an author’s comment at the end that indicates Drake may be writing his own version of Treasure Island!
Review Copyright 2013 by Irwin Bryan
Pirates & Privateers www.cindyvallar.com/pirates.html
In John Drake’s third book in the series, Skull and Bones, you read how Flint and Silver fail to obtain their treasure or reconcile their differences. This neatly sets up Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island at the beginning of his classic tale.
They, or at least Silver’s crew, is already on the island holding the treasure. Flint succeeds in dealing with Silver’s crew and the threat they posed to his wealth. The next thing you know, another interloper drives them all from the island.
In the process Silver regains his ship and convinces the crew to sail for England and redemption of a kind. Flint, without a ship or a crew, finds suitable accommodation on an English warship and also heads for England and his own attempt at redemption.
Although that redemption may not all work out as they each hope, they leave England as one crew, with Flint and Silver each holding half of the map to the treasure and heading for the island to reclaim it. But greed, jealousy, and Fate conspire against them, and the survivors leave empty-handed and altered by the experience.
John Drake’s Flint & Silver trilogy is wonderfully entertaining, and I heartily recommend the books to anyone thinking of returning to Treasure Island! And there’s also an author’s comment at the end that indicates Drake may be writing his own version of Treasure Island!
Review Copyright 2013 by Irwin Bryan
Pirates & Privateers www.cindyvallar.com/pirates.html
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews