Angel's Command

Overview

Ben and his black labrador, castaways from the legendary ghost ship Flying Dutchman, swore never to go to sea again. But fate casts them adrift once more on a French pirate ship, with two villainous sea captains--and a ghost--in pursuit.

"It has all the elements that make Jacques' books sing--terrific description, wonderful characters, and the power to transport you to an unforgettable place." --Detroit Free Press

Editorial Reviews

In this sequel to Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, young Ben and his faithful black Labrador, Ned, having escaped the ghostly ship's hellish curse but bound to wander the world for eternity lending a helping hand wherever needed, return for another spate of adventures. Once again, Jacques spins a rousing yarn that fairly bursts at the seams with exciting escapades, exotic locations, poems, shanties, treachery and derring-do as the heroes travel from the pirate-infested Caribbean to a cave awash with evil magic high in the Pyrnes. If Jacques piles it on a bit thick in what actually becomes two separate tales-one a sea voyage and the other an overland trek-the sheer storytelling vigor is hard to resist. The second half of the book proves especially enticing, when Ben and his dog, who communicate telepathically and whose affectionate sparring provides much of the book's spark, team up with a feisty gypsy girl and a young artist to save the long-lost son of a nobleman. As in all of Jacques's books, he conjures a colorful, fully realized world (particularly the gastronomic delights) and injects the pages with plenty of snappy repartee ("Cease cackling like a market goose, you old relic," the nobleman calls affectionately to his cook). Readers can once again take satisfaction in the fact that virtue is rewarded, evil-doers get their comeuppance and good triumphs over evil in Jacques's universe. All ages. (Mar.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Author Information

Bio of Brian Jacques

Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact. He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing. Some teachers at St. John's proved to be good role models. As Mr. Jacques recalls: "My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)" This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith. It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Penguin

Filesize

728.78 KB

Number of Pages

352

eBook ISBN

9781436276047