Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: A Night on Blood Isle
SERIES: Stories from Bennett Bay
AUTHOR: Stephen del Mar
PUBLISHER: LMW Books
LENGTH: 30 Pages
BLURB:
Paddy Sheehan invites a few of his grandchildren and nephews aboard the “Song of Erin,” a sailing yacht, for the family’s traditional Thanksgiving holiday sailing trip. They leave Bennett Bay and venture into the Gulf of Mexico for the Sweetwater Keys. The keys are a small cluster of islands with a mysterious pirate past. Infamous pirate captain, Caesar el Rojo, used Blood Isle, the keys’ main island, as his base of operations during the Golden Age of Piracy. What the crew of the “Song of Erin” doesn’t know is that pirates, of one kind or another, are still on Blood Isle.
This story takes place approximately two years after the events in “Return to Cooter Crossing.” We spend time with Sky and Storm, who are now nine. Sean and Ethan are near the end of their first semester of college. And, we meet Cousin Jimmy’s little sister and brother.
“A Night on Blood Isle” is a short story that’s sure to have FBI Special Agent Bowman handing the Mulder Award over to JJ. (See “The Demise of Bobby & Clyde.”)
REVIEW:
As the blurb says, it is two years after the events in Return to Cooter Crossing and we are back to check in on Sky and Storm and all the cousins they acquired when they were adopted by Aidan and JJ. The boys are on a sailboat cruise out to the Sweetwater Keys, which are just off Bennett’s Bay.
Along the way we learn some of the history of the keys, particularly the main island, Blood Isle. Blood Isle was named after a notorious pirate named Caesar el Rojo who used it as his main base of operations up until he captured and killed a Vodou priest. Before he died, the Vodou priest cursed Caesar el Rojo, his men, and all other pirates with the need to have to atone for all the deaths and horror they had caused.
What the folks from Bennett’s Bay and Cooter Crossing don’t know is that there are still pirates…..and curses never really go away, now do they.
I liked this story. It is a good thing that Mr. del Mar is a couple hours away from me, because I was jumping up and down when I flipped the last page, screaming “that’s it….you ended it there????” I would have liked MORE!
I recommend the story if you’re a fan of Mr. del Mar. This story is more like his The Demise of Bobby & Clyde story since it teeters over into the supernatural arena.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: