Wake of the Perdido Star

Jack O'Reilly is a 17-year old New Englander who, in 1805, sails with his parents on the Perdido Star to Cuba, his mother's birthplace, to claim the land she has inherited. But for Jack, the trip that began with high hopes and the excitement of a new life becomes a descent into violence and revenge. Tragedy strikes, Jack is forced to rejoin the Star as a member of the crew, sailing through the world's most treacherous waters under a drink-crazed captain. His soul seared and his heart calloused, his obsession to gain revenge dominates his life. And so the boy Jackson O'Reilly becomes the pirate "Black Jack," the relentless scourge of any who stand in his path to retribution -- until a daring rescue of two of his mates teaches him that there are other emotions than anger, other feelings than hatred and mistrust