The Smugglers (High Seas Trilogy Series #2)

by Iain Lawrence

Overview

Readers will relish this companion to the highly acclaimed adventure, The Wreckers:

Young John is charmed by the Dragon, the schooner he is planning to sail to London and use for the honest wool trade.  But a mysterious gentleman delivers an ominous warning to "steer clear of that ship," because the ship was "christened with blood."  The ship looks clever and quick, and the crew seems to know how to man it, but with such a warning John is left to wonder how well he really knows what lies ahead.  Will he heed the advice given by the mysterious man?  Or will he brave the unknown on his own?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307546722
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/12/2009
Series:	High Seas Trilogy Series , #2
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Iain Lawrence is a journalist, travel writer, and an avid sailor.  He was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author for The Wreckers, published by Delacorte Press in 1998.  The Smugglers is his second book for young people.  He resides in Canada.

Read an Excerpt

I fetched a lantern and went right to the depths of the ship, where water, brown and fetid, slurped among the timbers. I went through the darkness in a circle of light, frightening cockroaches into shelter, hearing the groans and creaks of the hull as it worked. The places where I had to go were small and cramped, and I slithered through them as the lantern made the shadows zoom and tilt.

And someone came behind me.

When I stopped, he was silent. When I moved, so did he. I heard a faint creaking of wood as he crept up, closing the distance. He was quiet as a cat. And suddenly I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I cried out, startled, as he pushed me down against the hull.

"You're in danger, boy," said he.

I tried to lift myself, to turn and see him, but the sailor held me down.

"Watch yourself," he said. "There's one aboard who'll kill you."

"Who?"

For a moment I only heard him breathing. He said, "The one who seems least likely."

"But who?" I asked again.

He pressed harder on my shoulder. "He'll want the dead man's secrets. See you keep them safe."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"A man you never saw." And then the hand was gone.

Table of Contents

1.	The Highwayman	1
2.	A Warning	10
3.	The Old Captain	17
4.	The Dragon	27
5.	The Crew Comes Aboard	35
6.	An Eerie Wind	46
7.	A Dreadful Curse	57
8.	Dashing Tommy Dusker	66
9.	The Home of Nightmares	74
10.	Cannons in the Fog	84
11.	No Taste for Blood	94
12.	Deadlock	100
13.	A Tale of Murder	109
14.	The Coast Is Clear	119
15.	The Black Guard	133
16.	A Gang of Men	141
17.	A Jerkin of Corks	152
18.	The Only One Left	159
19.	A Hangman's Noose	167
20.	One More Name	173
	Author's Note	179
	Acknowledgments	182

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-9-In Iain Lawrences's The Smugglers (Delacorte, 1999), set in Cornwell, England at the beginning of the 19th century, 16-year-old John Spencer and his father continue their adventures that began in The Wreckers (Delacorte, 1998). This time they are buying a new trading vessel, the Dragon, and hiring a crew who lead them into danger. Reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, the main characters are caught in deception and intrigue. Encountering piracy aboard their ship, they use both wit and muscle to outmaneuver the deadly attempts on their lives. British actor Ron Keith uses differing tones of inflection to create suspense. His pronunciation is clear, and the reading is well-paced. Listeners will enjoy this dramatic tale of the high seas.-Tina Hudak, Takoma Park Maryland Library, MD Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

What places The Smugglers in the first rank of pirate-adventure yarns is the author's ability to create memorable characters...Avast, ye lubbers, for a great read!
— The Horn Book Magazine

Mary M. Burns

In this companion to The Wreckers (1998), Lawrence provides more adventures on the high seas. When John Spencer's father buys the mysterious black schooner, the Dragon, the 16-year-old boy is excited until he learns that he must make the ship's maiden voyage without his father. Among the bad omens: Mr. Spencer survives a shooting, and later, the captain they've hired is killed. Mr. Spencer is convinced that their affairs are looking better when he hires the colorful Captain Crowe to assume command of the vessel. No sooner does the schooner sail out of harbor than Crowe changes course unexpectedly, claiming that he has new orders. Crowe, of course, is a pirate, as are the scalawags he's hired, and in no time, John is trapped with the scurrilous crew. When it seems that John will be fed to the fish by Crowe, he escapes and lives to see the cur hanged on his beloved Dragon. The storytelling is broad but the details are fine: Lawrence has packed his tale full of vivid descriptions that are swarming with historical detail, painting as honest a picture of piracy as readers are likely to encounter. (Fiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews

"Readers who devoured The Wreckers will be eager to dig into this seafaring sequel."—Booklist, Starred

"A corking good nautical adventure."—The Horn Book Magazine

"[To] be devoured in a single sitting."—The Bulletin

"Full of vivid descriptions that are swarming with historical detail."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Narrator Ron Keith is the consummate match for Lawrence's spectacular sequel to The Wreckers. His versatile repertoire of accents supports the array of characters involved with an intricate plot. The intrigue builds as the unsuspecting young John Spencer sails forth on his father's new ship, The Dragon, from Kent to London with a load of wool, accompanied by a band of smugglers. John's life appears to be threatened at every turn by the captain and his crew of scalawags; Keith brings all the memorable characters to life--from the menacing Captain Crowe; to the fool-hardy highwayman and faint-hearted sailor, Dasher, in his coat of corks; to the blind innkeeper, Mrs. Pye, who cares only for the return of her beloved, the quirky Fleming. Rousing adventure for middle-grade and young adult listeners. T.B. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 01 - AudioFile