Here we are again with the Pirate Captain and his motley crew of misfits. The pirate who wears red, the one who in green, the pirate with a scarf, the pirate with gout to name a few. There is never any idea how many crew there are but never mind. Now is not the time for specifics especially where the Pirate Captain is concerned.
They need a new ship, the current one is falling apart and the crew are getting fed up. The Pirate Captain decides to go for the best ship available but it is going to cost him dearly – 6 thousand doubloons or his life he does not pay this money back to Cutlass Liz.
When the opportunity to claim a reward from Ahab who is wanting to seek revenge on the whale who ate his leg, ironically though he is using whale bone for a prosthetic, the Pirate Captain takes over and continues to seek out the big white whale. Last spotted in Las Vegas (Suspend belief here readers as to how a whale, let alone a pirate ship end up in the desert) The reward money will clear the debt with Cutlass Liz and all will be well for the Pirate Captain and his crew.
This being an adventure, it does not necessarily get off to the best start or for that matter, the greatest conclusion. Somehow, fate transpires against them all and they all seem much happier with everything returned to normal, that is until the next adventure.
This is the second book in The Pirates! stories from Gideon Defoe. This has been reissued by Bloomsbury and retitled ‘with Moby Dick’ from ‘with Whaling’. These are comedy books and they do raise a wry smile and a snigger whilst reading, Gideon Defoe has a wit about him which I have never come across before in literature. That said I have not read many comedy books before. I have read plenty of books which have turned out to be funny but I feel were never intentionally so.
I love these Bloomsbury editions, and have the next one already to go on my shelf. I actually found them in my local Waterstones in the adult fiction section, where Gideon Defoe rightly says they belong. (A twitter conversation in this case). Please see my review on the Pirate Captain and his first adventure here.
The Book Jotter 