Wake of the Perdido Star

"Written like a sea story should be written, with all the legendary action. A fascinating read." --Clive Cussler

Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman spins a cinematic tale of pirates, shipwrecks, and sea adventure. Co-written with Daniel Lenihan, one of America's leading authorities on shipwrecks and diving, Wake of the Perdido Star is a moving story of a young boy's coming of age on the high seas, full of authentic nautical and historical detail. Wake of the Perdido Star is a captivating tale about friendship, justice, and survival.

In 1805 seventeen-year-old Jack O'Reilly sets sail with his parents from Salem, Massachusetts, aboard the Perdido Star. Jack is full of high hopes at the prospect of a new life in his mother's homeland of Cuba, but shortly after the family arrives, tragedy strikes, and in a desperate escape, Jack rejoins the departing Star as a member of the crew.

For the next three years Jack encounters storms, shipwreck, hostile and friendly natives, and enemy vessels as he travels around Cape Horn to the South Sea islands, the Philippines, and around the Cape of Good Hope. But throughout his adventures, his obsession to return to Cuba for revenge dominates his life, and his daring actions become the talk of the men of other vessels.

This book ranks among those in the long tradition of classic sea adventure novels--full of authentic historical and nautical detail, including realistic descriptions of underwater diving and salvage operations of the early nineteenth century. Jack O'Reilly provides a moving portrait of an adolescent struggling toward adulthood as he learns the meaning of justice, friendship, and survival.

Author: Gene Hackman
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Published: 12/04/2012
Pages: 400
Weight: 0.7lbs
Size: 8.01h x 5.42w x 0.99d
ISBN: 9781557049704

About the Author
Gene Hackman, the Academy Award(R)-winning actor, always had a yearning to write, hanging around his grandfather's small newspaper office in Danville, Illinois, when he was young. He published this first novel at age 70, co-written with his neighbor, leading underwater archaeologist, Daniel Lenihan, who also wrote the nonfiction adventure, "Submerged," about his 25 years with the National Park Services, from Newmarket Press. The two went on to write two more novels, published by St. Martin's, "Justice for None" and "Escape from Andersonville: A Novel of the Civil War." Hackman's solo novel, a western, will be published by Pocket Books in 2011.