Silver by Edward Chupack | Book Review

Silver by Edward Chupack tells the tale of Long John Silver with a goodly amount of murder.

My Book Review Rating: 4 stars – a must for all pirate fans

Silver is presented as the tale of Long John Silver – one of literature’s greatest villains – told by himself: “my own tale as written by me with a goodly amount of murder”.

As the novel opens we find Silver, held captive in a cabin of his own ship: the Linda Maria. We know not who is captor is, though Silver does, and through the letters he writes in his fevered state, and conversations he has through the cabin door to the young Mullet, we are told the tale of Long John Silver.

From his childhood as a street urchin in Bristol, England, to his apprenticeship among the Linda Maria under the watchful eye of the sea-rat Black John and finally to pirate captain. Silver tells the story of his life, as he undertakes a quest to find the world’s greatest treasure, alluded to by clues found in a dusty old bible.

Fans of Treasure Island will recognise some of the characters, but this is not a sequel or a retelling of that classic novel. In this Chupack’s first novel, he uses Stevenson’s classic as a springboard to a new pirate adventure; a rip-roaring tale of the high seas and piracy, of murder and of a treasure hunt.

Fans of Treasure Island, of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and of pirates in general will enjoy this murderous tale. It’s very well written and the characters are believable; read it for long enough in one sitting and you may even start to feel sea sick!

I look forward to what Chupack has to offer in his second novel.