Surprisingly better than I expected

Better than I expected after reading some reviews.
This was my 2nd fictional Tim Severin story. My first was the first in this “pirate” series about Hector Lynch. “Privateer” is the 4th in the series but only the 2nd on Audible. The first was admirably read by a narrator with an astonishing variety of accents for all the different characters. By contrast, the narrator of “Privateer” sounded stiff and a little nervous, and all the characters sounded the same at first. I missed the West Indian lilt the narrator had given to Dan, the Mesquite Indian.

However, when the French and Spanish characters appeared in “Privateer”, narrator John Cormack began to loosen up and show his chops. And when the Jamaican Bilboa came into the story, I understood why Cormack had not wanted to give Dan a Jamaican accent. Cormack has a slight Irish tint in his voice, which is quite appropriate given the protagonist’s origin.

The story had some pleasantly unexpected twists which made up for the predictability of Hector and Maria’s characters.

The nautical details were masterfully done and not over-done, and Severin manages to describe many scenes as seen through non-nautical eyes. Nor did I find the historical details laid on too thickly, as some reviewers complained. The chase through the Vipers reefs reminded me of similar scenes in “The Riddle of the Sands”.

So 4 stars for the performance, 3.5 on its merits but I added 0.5 because Cormack delivered the goods in the end and ended strongly. And 3 stars for the story which though perhaps not hugely original and relying a little too much on stereotypes, still kept me interested throughout. I mean, Severin was an explorer and adventurer, not a professional man of letters.

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