The Blackbirder [Paperback]

James L. Nelson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, USA (2001)
• ASIN: B000O8CA74
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born in a log cabin in the sea-side town of Lewiston, Maine.... Okay, maybe not a log cabin. And maybe Lewiston isn't exactly a seaside town. Despite that, my interest in ships and the sea began early, reading Hornblower and building ship models. In high school I built a fifteen foot sailboat, and with a friend, an eighteen foot canoe.
I graduated from Lewiston High School in 1980, if not with honors then at least with a diploma. After a year of hitchhiking and motorcycling around the country, I attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, later transferring to UCLA Film School (Official Motto: '...but what I really want to do is direct...') , from which I graduated in 1986. After working in the television industry for two years, I realized that I could not stand a) the television industry, b) Los Angeles and c) being ashore. In 1988 I joined the crew of the Golden Hinde (rhymes with mind), a replica of Sir Francis Drake's vessel of 1577. There I met a foretop person named Lisa Page, whom I beat out for the job of bosun. Lisa vowed then and there to marry me and make me pay for that for the rest of my life.
Leaving the Hinde in Houston, Texas, I worked aboard the brig Lady Washington (after my time she played the Interceptor in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie) and the ship 'HMS' Rose, (Surprise in Master and Commander, also after my time) I sailed aboard Rose for two years, as Able Bodied Seaman and Third Mate.
In 1993, I 'swallowed the anchor.' Lisa Page, made good on her threat and we married that year. The following year I finished By Force of Arms, my first book. I've been a full-time writer since then, with fourteen books either published or in the process of being published. My books have sold in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. My 2003 title Glory in the Name was selected as the winner of the American Library Association's W.Y. Boyd Award for Excellence in Military Fiction.
Recently, my writing has expanded to include non-fiction. My first work of non-fiction was Reign of Iron, a detailed look at the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack (Virginia). More recently I completed a book about the Revolutionary war naval battle that took place on Lake Champlain. That book is called Benedict Arnold's Navy.
Lisa and I now live in Harpswell, Maine (which really is a seaside town), with our four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Blackbirder, March 27, 2002

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blackbirder: Book Two of the Brethren of the Coast (Paperback)

Nelson is developing his talents as an author of historical fiction. It's good to see a writer who actually improves as he goes along.

Indicative of this improvement is the amount of historical detail given in this book, the second in the Brethren of the Coast series. Largely about the slave trade, The Blackbirder reveals the depth of the author's research into African cultures of the period.

Ex-pirate Marlowe should by rights be a fascinating character, but he lacks depth -- not merely because he's a rather shallow person, which he is, but because Nelson hasn't developed him sufficiently. He has a certain blank quality. James, the other main character here, is better drawn, but still not quite exemplary. Secondary characters, such as Marlowe's wife and her rakish ally Billy, aren't bad, but aren't fantastic either -- I'd say overall that characterization is a bit of a weakness here, though not disastrously so.

The plot, as one expects with Nelson, is an exciting one -- I don't find the themes here as interesting as his battles-at-sea books, but other readers may well prefer them. I did find my suspension of disbelief faltering at one point, when a psychotic racist tries to imprison Marlowe's freed workers: either they're free, and he would have to have a warrant, or they're slaves, and he's stealing property, and either way, that element didn't quite work for me. Overall, though, the story is fast-paced, enjoyable and holds the reader's attention well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put this one down!, May 1, 2001

By 

Bill (Charlestown) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blackbirder (Brethren of the Coast) (Hardcover)

Like all of Nelson's books that I have read, this one is fast-moving and historically accurate, but for some reason the characters and the plot grabbed me even more this time. Maybe because of the many twists the plot takes, or the unusual situations, but I loved this book! Read The Guardship first, to know where the characters are coming from (you won't be dissapointed) and then read The Blackbirder.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Great Yarn, March 26, 2001

By 

MLB (Oak Park, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Blackbirder (Brethren of the Coast) (Hardcover)

As usual, James Nelson delivers. A worthy sequel to The Guardship, The Blackbirder takes the reader on an amazing journey, not only to historical Boston but to the shores of Africa. Nelson's imagery is as sharp and as beautiful as ever, and its impossible to put the book down. If you're a fan of Forester, O'Brien, or of Nelson's other novels, this is a must have.