Silver: My Own Tale as Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder

Silver: My Own Tale as Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder
Edward Chupack
Dunne, Feb 2008, $23.95
ISBN 9780312373658

After a relatively successful life as a pirate, Long John Silver has been caught and is being brought back to England under 24/7 watch to be hanged like the dirty dog he is. However, as he sails home a prisoner he may yet cheat the gallows as Long John is also extremely ill with a raging fever that could kill him before the noose does. Although sick, Long John has a tale to tell to pass time; at least that is what he says to his guard. However, long John has a hidden agenda with relating his saga; he hopes to con his young companion into freeing him in exchange for revealing where his treasure is buried as no one understands human greed better than this slick pirate.

As he behaved in TREASURE ISLAND, Silver retains that sly roguish genius while telling his life’s tale to his guard yet plotting his escape. He is terrific seemingly several steps ahead of those who want him to hang. Jim Hawkins plays a role in Silver’s “autobiography”, but this is not a rehash of the Stevenson classic; instead it is a chutzpah expansion that Edward Chupack brilliantly makes his own fascinating pirate saga.

Harriet Klausner