Death Island by Kelsey Ketch
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Age category: New Adult
Release Date: December 31, 2017
Description:
Her family name tainted by her great-grandfather’s crimes of piracy, Meriden Cummings is far from the typical 18th century woman. A social outcast, she works in a carpentry shop in a small village, where the people barely tolerate unconventional behavior.
However, her life takes a turn after a gang of pirates attack her village and her blood reveals an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs leading to Death Island. An island legends say is ruled by the Mayan god of the underworld, Ah Puch. Her great-grandfather had sought after the island before he vanished without a trace. Now, Meriden is about to journey across the sea to understand her family history.
There are only a few problems: her growing feelings toward a mysterious stranger linked to her great-grandfather’s past; a greedy band of pirates after her great-grandfather’s legendary treasure; and a contract she has unwittingly signed in blood with Ah Puch himself.
My Review:
Death Island is an adventure tale set in the early 1700s, featuring pirates, a strong female character, and a quest for treasure overshadowed by an insidious curse.
I found the story itself to be rather interesting with plenty of action and well-developed characters. It was full of seagoing action, and the pace picked up when Meriden and her shipmates reached Death Island. There are some aspects of a ghost story, and I really dig how the mystery of the “gardener” as she calls him is played out. The curse was also cool, adding quite a bit of tension to the story. Marked as unavoidable, the author still manages to build the hope that Greg or Meriden might find a solution.
As for the romantic interests, I wasn’t all that into the fact that every man Meriden grew up with is essentially in love with her. It seemed unrealistic to me. But besides that, I did enjoy the progression of Meriden and Greg’s relationship. It was refreshingly slow to build, and the personal histories and hang ups of each of them were excellently woven into a realistic struggle, both internal to themselves and with each other.
I also dug how Meriden stands up for herself throughout the book, though it also seems to closely pair up with a lack of judgement and self-preservation that sometimes gets herself or her shipmates into more trouble than they should have faced.
As for the historical context of the book, it’s kind of a mix. On the one hand, it’s obviously well researched for the main subject: the ships, the NC history, and the Mayan mythology, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. On the other, there are some period inconsistencies, such as the 18th century characters’ first person narration referring to adrenaline, which wasn’t discovered until the year 1900, and more than a few references to cleansing wounds with alcohol, which, if referring to isopropyl alcohol, wasn’t discovered until 1920, and which may also be considered a bit out of historical context when the idea of disinfection or even washing one’s hands as a doctor didn’t come into play until the mid-1800s.
The voice of the 1st person narration, as well as the dialog, also comes across as much more coarse and modern than I would expect from a story set in the early 1700s, likely around 1712-1715 or so, based on the clues I found related to the war Greg mentions having fought against the Tuscarora. I also found it particularly jarring how often and cavalierly the f-bomb was used by the characters. Still, I was surprised, when I expanded the google usage chart to start in 1700, to see the word nearly matching present day usage until dropping off in 1800 and resting nearly at zero until 1950 when it began its ascent to present day prolificacy, so maybe it’s historically accurate. It just seemed a bit off from what I expected.
As for the editing, it is also a mixed bag. For the most part the grammatical structure and punctuation are spot on, but I noticed way more than a few instances of homophones used in place of their obviously intended sound-alikes, such as causally instead of casually and literary instead of literally. I also found a few cases of noun-verb mismatch and the occasional incorrect form of a word used as an adjective or adverb. Add in a few sentence fragments, which I wrote off as intentional, but still noticed, and I found these as a whole to distract from the story.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, but I feel the book needs a bit more polishing. I think folks who enjoy YA or NA with nautical themes, pirates, and Mayan mythology might dig this book, especially those who are looking for something a little different. Historical fiction purists might find some issues with this story, but folks just looking for an adventure might be ok with it.
I received a free copy of this book from the author via Lola’s Blog Tours.
~~~
You can find Death Island on Goodreads
You can buy Death Island here:
- Amazon
- B&N
- Kobo
- Smashwords
- iBooks
Read on for an excerpt and more information about the author!
***Excerpt***
I paced the deck with the few men that stayed behind on watch. It was growing late, and Captain Connell’s curfew was quickly approaching. Soon all the crew would return to the ship, stumbling drunk and fucked out of their minds, but calmer than they had been for a while. Some reason, my body twitched in excitement. I’d been anxious since Meriden left with the last group. There was a knot in my gut the moment she stepped off the dock, and the feeling hadn’t gone away since.
I causally walked to the starboard bulwark, catching sight of the harbormaster’s window. The candle still burned as it had been long before night fall. Odd, I thought. The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter. I haven’t seen the harbormaster work his books this late into the night. I leaned against the gunwale and squinted a little, trying to focus my vision. The candle was nearly spent, and underneath the dripping wax laid what possibly could be a hand, but it was too far to tell. As I eased back, my gut squirmed like a bunch of worm snakes. I needed to be sure all was well, for Meriden’s safety and the rest of the crew.
Neglecting to ask Swan’s permission, I slipped down the main deck, across the gangway, and headed straight for the harbormaster’s office. The street was as quiet as the grave when I reached the door. I raised my hand to knock, only for the door to push open on the first tap to the solid oak. I swallowed the lump that crammed its way into my throat.
This wasn’t good. I drew my working knife and stepped inside.
“Hello,” I called. “Anyone still here?”
It felt stupid walking into the dark hallway without knowing if I might end up dead or accused of theft, but my gut told me to keep pushing forward. I turned right into the room with the burning candle still flickering inside. The office was clean and uncluttered except for the few stacks of paper on the desk. On top of which laid the harbormaster, as if he merely fallen asleep in his desk chair. My eyes refocused again at his outstretched arm. A trail of hot, liquid wax ran across the flesh of the harbormaster’s hand, which didn’t even stir the man awake. My heart pounded with adrenaline, and I pushed the man up by the shoulder.
A maroon-colored pool poured onto his books from what looked like a dagger wound to the harbormaster’s shoulder. A serious wound, but not one that should have killed. It was the discoloration of the man’s skin and the vomit around the mouth that gave me a better idea what had brought on the man’s demise. I’d seen the signs many times before from men who died in blackish waters as well as a few victims that died at Baker’s hand.
Snake venom.
About the Author:
For more information, please visit her site at kelseyketch.com
You can find and contact Kelsey here:
- Website
- Goodreads
- Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment