A swashbuckling thriller, part three of THE HIGH SEAS ADVENTURES, set on the oceans at the turn of the nineteenth century drama, horror, adventure "There's pirates in the West Indies. Cannibals. They cook you alive. They shrink your head to the size of a walnut," says Mr Spencer to his son. These words will haunt sixteen-year-old John Spencer as he embarks on his first voyage to foreign lands. Carrying cargo destined for Jamaica, John and his Dragon crew set off from London for waters few of them have sailed before. When they come upon a lifeboat adrift at sea, some are wary of the sailor aboard. His name is Horn, and something about this imposing and mysterious sailor isn't right. He carries a chest full of clinking glass, and his story doesn't quite make sense. Still, John respects the stranger's awe-inspiring seamanship. With Horn on deck, both John and the ship's captain believe the Dragon is in the best of hands. But is Horn to be trusted? The answers become more and more complicated as the Dragon encounters a very real and very dangerous pirate ship. Now John starts to believe his father's warnings, especially after he becomes separated from his shipmates and is stranded on an island reputed to conceal buried treasure. A place teeming with buccaneers Brimming with furious high-seas adventure, this companion to The Wreckers and The Smugglers concludes with a bloodcurdling tale of pirates and a surprise ending

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book features in the following series: High Seas Adventures, High Seas Trilogy, The High Seas Trilogy, Thorndike Young Adult .

This book has been graded for interest at 10-14 years.

There are 288 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2004 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Iain Lawrence was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the second of four children. He studied journalism in Vancouver and went to work for the Prince Rupert Daily News. Eighteen years later, he went to work on a fish farm before he started writing full-time. He learned to sail at the age of nine, and as he grew up, boating became a huge part of his life. He lives with his long-time partner Kristin and dog Skipper on a remote radio-transmission site on an island off Prince Rupert, British Columbia.