Tag Archives: Pirates

by | September 25, 2009 · 9:37 am

Linda Lehmann Masek. The Poison Tree. New York: Avalon Books, 2004.

Anyone who has worked in a library or a used bookstore knows that any bag or box of donated books can contain a surprise–a treasure in among the ragged discards of someone’s bookshelves, basement, or attic. When bookstore owner Jo Sharpe agrees to take the odds and ends that once belonged to the late Bridie MacPherson she gets two surprises–a cat she names “Marlowe” and the diary of Cristabel Lamonte. Christabel, the daughter of a plantation owner on the Carolina coast in the early 1700s, lived an unremarkable life until she was kidnapped by the pirate Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”).  Jo becomes obsessed with what happened to Cristabel–and the buried treasure that her diary mentions. As her investigations take her up and down the coast, several murders ensue.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coast, Dare, Historical, Hyde, Masek, Linda Lehmann, Mystery

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by | September 14, 2009 · 9:17 am

Maddie James. The Cult: The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice. Edgewater, FL: Resplendence Publishing, LLC, 2008.

Victoria Porter has a knack for always finding her way into an undesirable situation.  In fact she yearns for them.  Being a maiden at twenty-three in 1746, Victoria has given up on finding a suitable mate and now searches for any man willing to cure her boredom.  During an escapade with a drunken sailor Victoria’s older brother, Jeremiah, dies from a bullet to the back as he tries to prevent Victoria from defiling her honor.  Victoria finds herself alone and suicidal from guilt until Jeremiah’s ghost comes to save her yet again. With Jeremiah’s guidance she begins a quest to find their missing brother. Victoria soon finds herself washed up on a shore after being thrown from a ship during a terrible storm.  Alone and frightened once again, she is rescued by a mysterious man with demons of his own and from a time that is not hers.

Colt MacKenzie is desperate to write another bestselling horror novel in 2007.  He heads to Ocracoke Island in search of his newest topic: The Cult of Teach.  While Colt immerses himself in the legend of The Cult and its obsession over Blackbeard’s Chalice, he comes to the rescue of a strange woman who soon turns his world upside down.

Through the chalice Victoria and Colt discover that their destinies are intertwined and the couple is inevitably thrown into the world of The Cult.  At all costs Victoria and Colt must protect the chalice and reunite it with its rightful owner.  This is the only way to protect themselves and their destinies.

The Cult is the second book in Maddie James’ series The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Hyde, James, Maddie, Mystery, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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by | · 9:09 am

Maddie James. The Curse: The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice. Edgewater, FL: Resplendence Publishing, LLC, 2007.

The Curse is the first book in Maddie James’ series The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice.  The story begins in 1718 with Jack Porter in the mist of a mission to retrieve his wife, recently stolen by the pirate Edward Teach (Blackbeard).  Jack successfully fights off Blackbeard and escapes with his wife, Hannah.  His happiness is short-lived; Hannah dies a few days later in Jack’s arms.

Fast forward 300 years to Claire Winslow enjoying a quite, secluded vacation on Ocracoke Island.  When Claire is visited by a mysterious, intoxicating man this vacation quickly turns into an adventure she never expected.  Claire finds herself inexplicably obsessed with her nightly visitor and begins to question whether he is real or fantasy.  Eventually she realizes that her phantom lover is really her husband from a lifetime past, Jack Porter. Thus Claire and Jack embark on a destiny-altering, time-traveling journey to find a chalice constructed of Blackbeard’s skull.  The chalice is their only way of ending the curse leveled by Blackbeard that threatens to keep them apart for eternity.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2007, Coast, Historical, Hyde, James, Maddie, Mystery, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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by | · 9:05 am

Maddie James. The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice Series.

  • The Curse. Edgewater, FL: Resplendence Publishing, 2007.
  • The Cult. Edgewater, FL: Resplendence Publishing, 2008.
  • The Quest. Edgewater, FL: Resplendence Publishing, 2010.

Maddie James builds this series on the fierce history of the pirate Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and the continuing interest in pirate lore.  The novels move back and forth between the 1700s and the present and feature bits of history, mayhem, the supernatural, and star-crossed lovers.

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Filed under Coast, Historical, James, Maddie, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Series

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by | August 31, 2009 · 5:18 pm

Inglis Fletcher. Lusty Wind for Carolina. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1944

The fledgling settlement at the mouth of the Cape Fear is menaced by pirates in this novel set in the early 1700s.  Blackbeard, working out of his base on Ocracoke Island, hinders the overseas trade that Huguenot refugee Robert Fontaine hopes will bring prosperity to Carolina coast.  Fontaine’s daughter’s courtship and marriage to the enterprising David Moray add a romantic element to the novel.  The action moves back and forth between Europe and points in the New World.

This is the third novel in the author’s Carolina Series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1940-1949, 1944, Brunswick, Coast, Fletcher, Inglis, Historical, Novels in Series

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by | December 17, 2008 · 4:50 pm

Patrick Hillman. The Pirates of Pamlico Sound. Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com, 2007.

This brief novel was written during National Novel Writing Month in 2005.  It’s a fantasy that plays with the idea that all women love pirates.  Aithne Reade was a witch who escaped from Salem in 1692.  Aithne made her way to coastal North Carolina where her daughter Brenna grew up and fell in love with the pirate Red Davies.  Their happiness was cut short, and Brenna remains a restless spirit through the centuries.  When Bernice Sarris and her husband buy an old chest at an auction, Bernice finds within it Brenna’s diary and clothes that have some special properties.  Bernice is delighted by what the pirate jacket in the trunk does for husband’s sexual prowess (nice woman that she is, she even lends the jacket to her friends), but she is unprepared for consequences of wearing Brenna’s dress. The chapters in this book alternate between the colonial era and the present, but the two stories are woven together in a satisfying tale.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2007, Carteret, Coast, Dare, Hillman, Patrick, Hyde, Science Fiction/Fantasy

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by | October 23, 2008 · 3:35 pm

Frank R. Stockton. Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate’s Daughter. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1914.

A sanitized and cheerful pirate tale, with just a few scenes set at Topsail Inlet and Cape Fear. Kate tries to steer her father, Stede Bonnet, away from piracy, in part for his safety, and in part to speed her marriage plans. Blackbeard, a rival and sometime collaborator with Bonnet, complicates matters.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1910-1919, 1914, Coast, Novels to Read Online, Stockton, Frank R.

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