Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom

by A. C. Crispin

Overview

Twenty-five-year-old Jack Sparrow is a clean-cut merchant seaman pursuing a legitimate career as a first mate for the East India Trading Company. He sometimes thinks back to his boyhood pirating days, but he doesn't miss Teague's scrutiny or the constant threat of the noose. Besides, he doesn't have much choice—he broke the Code when he freed a friend who had been accused of rogue piracy, and he can no longer show his face in Shipwreck Cove. When Jack's ship is attacked by pirates and his captain dies in the altercation, he suddenly finds himself in command.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423152514
Publisher:	Disney Press
Publication date:	05/17/2011
Series:	Pirates of the Caribbean
Sold by:	DISNEY PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE -EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	672
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

A. C. Crispin is the critically acclaimed author of many bestselling Star Trek and Star Wars novels including the Han Solo Trilogy, and novelizations of the television series V and the motion picture Alien Resurrection. Crispin is also known for her wildly popular original series, Starbridge. Her books have topped the New York Times hardcover bestseller list and sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up—First mate Jack Sparrow, 25, forsakes the honest life of a merchant seaman to become a pirate. Crispin weaves a detailed fantasy backstory of his adventures as a (usually) dedicated employee of the East India Trading Company in the 1700s. Jack treats men well, delights in strong women, and is true to his word. The beginning pages tell of a "lost city" shrouded by fog, invisible to sailors, and the home of a vast treasure of gold. When a pirate attack results in the death of the captain, Jack Sparrow, with his trademark swagger and dandified dress, takes over and finds himself dealing with Cutler Beckett, an ambitious executive of the EITC. Jack promises to help find the hidden island for a substantial cut of the gold, and it is this search that drives much of the story. There is plenty of drinking and wenching interrupted by bouts of swordplay and rich descriptions of life at Shipwreck Cove. The action moves briskly along at most points, enriched by sophisticated vocabulary, for these pirates ingest rum, strut insouciantly, and rest above the futtock shrouds. Jack's moral compass is shown to be true when he frees a cargo hold of slaves, and as punishment finds his ship set ablaze and headed to the bottom of the ocean. A desperate appeal to Davy Jones resolves the issue (though it costs Jack his soul), and the book ends where the movies begin: with Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm of The Black Pearl. Sure to be popular.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

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