Bloody Jack Adventure Series - Book 3

Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber

By L. A. Meyer

The third installment in the Bloody Jack series is even better than the first book. If you only like Bloody Jack, I'm sure you'll love this one. Don't let the length scare you. By the end you'll be wanting more. It seems Meyer has made the characters more stronger and thus more appealing, and his creativity isn't letting up.

I missed so much from the Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady, because I couldn't find it and still don't have it. Even though I skipped the second book (sinned), Meyer was still able to draw me into this story and inform me as well. He did it in a way that was straight to the point and didn't take anything away from it. An attribute Jacky possess, as well.

Jacky Faber makes her way back to her native land with the hopes of seeing her true love, Jaimy Fletcher. Even though she wears the clothes of a lady and has finer manners (when necessary)now, she isn't received the way she hoped. The culprit being a book entitled the same as the first in this series, telling everything she told a friend, Amy Trevelyne. Now that most of her life has been divulged it's no wonder Jaimy's mother did not receive her, with welcome arms.

She goes to find Jaimy, and in the process finds out about some of her old mates. It seems a few moved on to better lives, some not so good. When she meets one of them she does what she does best, help them out. After which she heads to the races in male attire, because it's inappropriate for a lady to attend without a male escort. She discovers her love to be quite cozy with a pretty girl, and runs away not waiting for an explanation. In the process of escaping she gets picked up by a press-gang, which is where the action starts happening.

On board the HMS Wolverine Jacky once again takes to nautical life, schemes, makes new friends, and maybe a few who could be more than friends, and most importantly tries to stop the captain's advances and put the death ship into proper working order, even if that means she has to take command.

Bloody Jack - Really good read

Bloody Jack: Being an account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's boy

By L. A. Meyer

It isn't easy being a girl in the 19th century. Especially when your family is deceased, you're an orphan, and have to be a gang member to survive the streets of London. The only thing guaranteed is death, then your corpse being collected and used for experimentation. Sure, that could happen, but only by choice. When the chance comes it must be taken. And take it, she did.

Mary Faber isn't illiterate. This allows her to occasionally earn a little extra money for her gang, The Rooster Charlie Gang. They were the ones who saved her from her first grip with death. After her mother and sister died; she was put out in the streets by Muck, the corpse seller, to die. Since then she has been with them, like a family. The daily grind is simple: beg, beg, keep territory, and survive. No one wants to come into Muck's grasp. Nor do any of them want to starve to death. Despite the circumstances, they all have dreams.

Mary wants to have her own ship one day, and become a merchant. She wants the chance to break free. At first this doesn't appear to be a possibility, but after the murder of a gang member, she decides to take a chance. Not knowing exactly what she'll do, her quest begins. Mary leaves her gang, and sets out to find her fortune.

If she were a boy a lot could happen. It is a known truth, that even a dumb, filthy boy can do anything better than a smart girl. Using her shiv she cuts off her hair and changes into boy's clothing. Then heads to the HMS Dolphin where they need six ship's boys. Her ability to read gets her the position. While signing on she changes her age and name to Jacky, her father's name. This transition brings about entertaining and sometimes funny happenings.

At one point in the story, I thought I had figured out how she got her nickname, Bloody Jack. The little red sister (a phrase gotten from Shanghai Girls), her period, is what I thought it was, but that wasn't it. I'll let you find out, because I hate spoilers, and even what I said before might have spoiled something for someone. The story is really nice. It is not your usual coming of age tale, if it can even be considered that. She along with all the other ship's boys grow throughout the story. Some even get promoted to higher ranks. Before any of this though, there are some problems: a pedophile trying to molest her, crushing on one of her mates, finding out about being a woman, and of course, keeping her true identity a secret.

I recommend this book and the rest of the series, to anyone who likes adventure, nautical life, and of course, a heroine.

Note: It can be slightly boring at times, but what good book isn't like that.