Customer Reviews

Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew

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Ghost Ship is the detailed history of the Mary Celeste, a ship found abandoned in the late 1800s. It's considered one of history's greatest maritime mysteries, since nothing was found out of order on the ship. All the foul weather gear was intact, all the crew's belongings were still in their proper places - in other words, there wasn't the slightest hint of foul weather or piracy. The crew had simply vanished with no mention of anything out of the ordinary in the captain's log.

Brian Hicks first gives a broad overview of the ship's bizarre past, and then launches into one of the most detailed accounts of anything I've ever read on any topic. He begins with the ship's construction, including not only the man who built it but a brief history of the town he lived in and the economic impact it had on his community. From here he traces the Mary Celeste, then known as the Amazon, through its first captain's strange death while on his first sailing, up to its second captain, Benjamin Briggs. At this point the Briggs family history is given - everything you could possibly want to know about the Briggs' is included here. From the patriarch, Nathan Briggs and his marriage into the Cobb family, to the birth of every Briggs child and each of their own marriages and eventual deaths at sea, Hicks covers minutia at an almost unparalleled depth.

It's at this point that I got slightly annoyed with the book. Since the Mary Celeste is shrouded in mystery, Hicks adopts sort of a "well this is what we *do* know" attitude, and every detail - and I mean every detail - that we actually know of from diaries and newspapers is included in his early chapters.

For the next couple hundred pages this continues, as the history of the Mary Celeste's actual discovery is chronicled, the trial that ensued, and eventually the hoaxes and theories that sprung up, mostly after Conan Doyle's fictional account appeared in Cornhill Magazine. At times the reading is very slow and dense and Hicks refuses to give any hints of what he proposes actually happened, although you know it's coming. While Hicks effectively utilizes the technique of building suspense, he does it to an almost annoying level. Ultimately the excruciating detail that fills this book isn't really enough to satisfy until the anti-climactic ending, where Hicks almost sheepishly reveals his own theory of what happens. With all the tension he tries to create throughout the earlier chapters, I found it surprising that I was halfway through his own explanation before I realized that's what it was.

Having said that, his explanation is a pretty good one. It's by far the most plausible of anything previously put forth, and doesn't leave many holes. The major problems with his idea are that of industrial alcohol transportation safety guidelines. One, it's hard to believe that the shipping companies wouldn't have been aware of the dangers of transporting dangerous substances (and thus taken more precautions against leakage), and two, if they didn't regularly take these precautions it seems like what Hicks suggests as his solution would've happened much more frequently.

Ghost Ship is ultimately a quick and fun read. I recommend it, but be prepared to wade through some dense sections. And after a few days of digesting it, you might come to realize that while the best solution yet, Hicks' ideas are ultimately just one more offering in the dozens of theories already out there.

Brian Hicks does a satisfying job in Ghost Ship in presenting all angles of the mystery surrounding the Mary Celeste and her missing crew. Particularly interesting is the author's examination of the how this true tale of terror morphed into an almost legendary event as various myths began to attach themselves to an historical occurence, starting with a story by Arthur Conan Doyle. The ship's name even changed from Mary Celeste into Marie Celeste in common usage as if in tribute to its own new iconic status. The book, at times, feels a little padded as the author veers into somewhat related spheres (such as the Bermuda Triangle). The author, though, does provide a solution that seems to answer many of the unanswered questions and seems far more reasonable than anything put forward previously. A nice summer beach read as one looks out at the ocean.

This book is a good, brisk read by a sharp journalist. The Mary Celeste was a ship found adrift in the Atlantic in the 1870s, with nobody aboard and no sign of a struggle or bad weather. Since that time the mystery of her crew's fate has puzzled and intrigued writers and historians. Hicks lays out all the known facts of the case, while delving into the personal life of the captain and the details of the lawsuit which followed the incident, when the ship was salvaged. He then takes a few amusing detours, recounting the ship's subsequent ill-fated story, the absurd tales that grew up around it, and more plausible early theories of what had happened. In the end, Hicks lays out what he believes occurred, and his case as presented here is certainly the best explanation to date; I do fancy he's solved it. We close with a brief discussion of the Mary Celeste's wreck, which was found recently by divers off Haiti, and this satisfying, well-rounded true tale is complete.

Readers seeking a gripping true sea mystery will already know of the legend of the Mary Celeste, found drifting with crew missing in 1872: Brian Hicks tackles this 130-year old mystery in Ghost Ship : The Mysterious True Story Of The Mary Celeste And Her Missing Crew, re-creating events leading up to the disappearance and revealing the aftermath of suspicion and intrigue which followed a puzzling investigation after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sensationalized the event in fiction. A fascinating modern probe of all the facets of an old unsolved mystery.

As and engineer and a sailor, I was skeptical that the author could convince me that he could explain the mystery after all the attempts to do so by so many. The conclusion is reasonable and will be discussed no further for fear of messing with the mystery in front of possible readers. By the way, the discrepancy between the plans, page 49 and the model, page 180, jumps out in the placement of the foremast (through or forward of the cabin) and the gaff rig on the mizzen in the model, but not on the plans or the picture on page 160. Worth reading

Everyone's probably heard of the Mary Celeste. You know, the ship found drifting at sea with no crew - and no clues as to what happened to that crew. The story's usually embellished with little details like untouched meals still on the table, but the actual true story is compelling enough all by itself.

This book includes everything you need to know about the Mary Celeste. It's particularly good at separating fact from fiction and at giving a real portrait of the people who were involved (especially those who disappeared, who often get very short shrift or negative treatment). It also covers the legal troubles involved, something that I had never heard of before and which was rather interesting.

Best of all, it proposes a solution that is breathtaking in its simplicity and in its ability to actually explain every piece of evidence. Bravo!

A couple of reviewers found the book rather plodding. I strongly disagree. Then again, I came to this book as a genuine history buff, and not just a good ghost story enthusiast.

It's hard to understand it now, but the mystery about this ship, found vacant on the Atlantic in 1872, had a profound grip on the public in the years around the turn of the century. Obscure to us today in the 21th century, the mystery of the Mary Celeste had the appeal then that UFOs and Kennedy assassination conspiracies have for some today.

Author Hicks is to be congratulated for conducting mountainous research on this facsinating story, yet making it all accessible and readable. While perhaps not as engaging as a detective novel, it nonetheless was hard for me to put down.

In the end, Hicks' elegantly simple expanation for the mystery ties up all the loose ends that the crackpot consipracy theories couldn't explain. Well-written, enjoable, and highly recommended.

Once exposed to a heady mixture of Chariot of the Gods, In Search Of and every cryptozoology book the Franklin Public Library could provide, I've been twisted - so when Ghost Ship showed up at my local library, I picked it up expecting, at the very least, a cameo from a giant squid. Instead Ghost Ship is a well researched book that leaves readers with a plausible explanation of what did happen to the fabled mysterious Mary Celeste.
It's a tough job for author Hicks. He has to satisfy maritime buffs at the same time he's working to capture guys like me who don't know a yardarm from a reefed sail and who are in it solely for the spooky factor. If you're like me, go directly to Part II, wherein the author reveals his theory (and brings in UFOs and the Bermuda triangle - strictly to debunk them). Part I sets up the hardworking maritime life - an interesting topic, but one that a book like Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex plumbs more successfully.

Hicks dives into one of the most famous historical mysteries of all times, and his research is impressive. The amount of detail is at time a litle overwhelming, but I did get a better idea of the actual facts of the case than I have ever run across before. Hicks also does a good job at weeding out the legendary (and untrue) facts that have grown around the story (there was no blood, no half-eaten still hot meals), and seem to be added upon by writers who never bothered to go back to the original documents.

The details, at times, can be a little much. But there is always the haunting and tantalizing image of the empty ship, floating off the Azores, belongings hanging on their pegs, ship's log devoid of any mention of trouble, (seemingly) no tow line. The mystery will pull you through the book, even if you start to feel bogged down.

Now, Hicks does present a solution to the mystery. It fits the facts, and it certainly seems plausible. So why is the solution presented so disappointing? Maybe that's the problem with human nature. As the writer John Marr once said about the Wallace case, sometimes the unsolved mystery is more thrilling, more intriguing, more FUN than the often mundane solution that explains it. After all, my mind has conjured up the wildest scenarios to answer the riddle. And even though I KNOW that aliens or space-time vortices are not responsible, the mundane, but often true, can't measure up.

More's the pity.

I've been fascinated with the Mary Celeste since I was a little kid. Hicks has done what I thought was impossible: not only does he write a beautiful history of the ship and her most famous crew but he sets the facts straight, traces the origins of all the inaccuracies (which began almost as soon as she was brought into Gibraltar), and comes up witn the single most plausible explanation for her abandonment. Hicks also contextualizes the ship's enduring mystery and appeal, showing the effect on public imagination ever since. Hicks cites a debt to Clive Cussler, which probably explains the loving, if somewhat dull, paegn to the Cussler-financed search for the wreck after the ship was scuttled. But that's a tiny portion of the book, so don't let it put you off what is surely THE definitive book on the Mary Celeste, her mystery, and her legacy.