Wake of the Perdido Star: A Novel - Softcover

Hackman, Gene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 155704970X ISBN 13: 9781557049704

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2012

Synopsis

"Written like a sea story should be written, with all the legendary action. A fascinating read." --Clive Cussler

Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman spins a cinematic tale of pirates, shipwrecks, and sea adventure. Co-written with Daniel Lenihan, one of America's leading authorities on shipwrecks and diving, Wake of the Perdido Star is a moving story of a young boy's coming of age on the high seas, full of authentic nautical and historical detail. Wake of the Perdido Star is a captivating tale about friendship, justice, and survival.

In 1805 seventeen-year-old Jack O'Reilly sets sail with his parents from Salem, Massachusetts, aboard the Perdido Star. Jack is full of high hopes at the prospect of a new life in his mother's homeland of Cuba, but shortly after the family arrives, tragedy strikes, and in a desperate escape, Jack rejoins the departing Star as a member of the crew.

For the next three years Jack encounters storms, shipwreck, hostile and friendly natives, and enemy vessels as he travels around Cape Horn to the South Sea islands, the Philippines, and around the Cape of Good Hope. But throughout his adventures, his obsession to return to Cuba for revenge dominates his life, and his daring actions become the talk of the men of other vessels.

This book ranks among those in the long tradition of classic sea adventure novels--full of authentic historical and nautical detail, including realistic descriptions of underwater diving and salvage operations of the early nineteenth century. Jack O'Reilly provides a moving portrait of an adolescent struggling toward adulthood as he learns the meaning of justice, friendship, and survival.

About this title

About the Authors

Gene Hackman has always had a yearning to write. Growing up in Danville, Illinois, he spent time at his grandfather"s small newspaper office and accompanied his uncle, a reporter, on assignments. After service in the Marines, Gene began his acting career in the theater, then went on to star in such movies as Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, The Conversation, and Unforgiven. He is the winner of two Academy Awards®.

Daniel Lenihan, winner of the George Melendez Wright Award for Excellence in Submerged Resources Research, has been diving as a park ranger and archeologist for the National Park Service since 1972, and founded the Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU) in 1976 before being appointed the first chief in 1980. Over the last 25 years, Lenihan and the SCRU team have been the subject of national media stories and many TV documentaries on CBS, ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, The Discovery and History Channels, and National Geographic. He has written frequently for Natural History and American History, and co-authored, with Gene Hackman, the well-received sea adventure novel Wake of the Perdido Star. A native New Yorker and former schoolteacher, he lives with his family in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From the Back Cover

A new writing team--actor Gene Hackman and one of America's leading authorities on shipwrecks and diving, Daniel Lenihan--have combined their remarkable talent and experience to create a rousing adventure saga of men and the sea, full of authentic historical and nautical detail, including fascinating descriptions of underwater diving and salvage operations of the early nineteenth century.

In 1805 seventeen-year-old Jack O'Reilly sets sail with his parents from Salem, Massachusetts, aboard the Perdido Star. Jack is full of high hopes at the prospect of a new life in his mother's homeland of Cuba, but shortly after the family arrives, tragedy strikes, and in a desperate escape, Jack rejoins the departing Star as a member of the crew.

For the next three years Jack encounters storms, shipwreck, hostile and friendly natives, and enemy vessels as he travels around Cape Horn to the South Sea islands, the Philippines, around the Cape of Good Hope, and finally back to Cuba. He becomes the leader of a renegade group who call themselves the Right Honourable Brotherhood of the Shipwrecked Men of the Star. But throughout his adventures, his obsession to return to Cuba for revenge dominates his life, and his daring actions become the talk of the men of other vessels, who come to know him as "Black Jack" O'Reilly. Not until Jack fears the loss of his two closest mates and attempts a desperate rescue does he finally free himself from the chains of his fury and vindictiveness.

Jack O'Reilly is a striking portrait in a long line of memorable protagonists who come of age at sea; and he is surrounded by equally memorable supporting characters: Paul Le Maire, the aristocratic intellectual whose own misadventures bring him onto the Perdido Star and into Jack's friendship; Quince, the first mate, Jack's mentor and defender; Quen-Li, the mysterious Chinese cook whose skills extend beyond the galley; Hansumbob, the ship's poet, whose simplicity belies a wisdom born of the heart; Yatoo, the leader of the native Belaurans, without whose help the shipwrecked men of the Star could not have survived; and the greedy and slippery Count de Silva, whose surface charm masks a murderous soul.

The exploits of the Brotherhood of the Star must rank among those in the long tradition of classic sea adventure novels, and Jack O'Reilly provides a moving portrait of an adolescent struggling toward adulthood as he learns the meaning of justice, friendship, and survival.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 155704970X
• ISBN 13: 9781557049704
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400