Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson

Join Captain Declan Ross and his faithful crew as they sail the high seas. You will meet mysterious monks, murdering pirates, and a lad with no memory. But beware of the evil villain Bartholomew Thorne who seeks to find and destroy Captain Ross. As good and evil clash, which will prevail? This book will exceed your highest expectations to those who love adventure. To find out more, buy the book and read it!

Bloodthirsty pirates. Buried treasure. Mysterious monks. Hidden islands. Daring escapes. Perilous searches. All these things and more are found in "The Isle of Swords." As Captain Declan Ross tries to discover a way to leave piracy behind, his daughter tries to persuade him to let her join the crew and his newest deckhand tries to recover his memory. A strange monk offers Captain Ross his chance to escape piracy if he will grant him passage to an island no one has seen. But the ruthless Captain Bartholomew Thorne also wants the treasure and will do anything to get his hands on the map now in Captain Ross' possession.

I had a little trouble at first with the manner in which Batson constantly shifts the point-of-view from which the story is being told. Hearing from half a dozen different characters who I barely knew was a bit confusing and frustrating. However, as the story progressed, I quickly lost sight of the point-of-view changes and lost myself in the story.

"The Isle of Swords" is first and foremost an action and adventure story populated with memorably quirky characters. Secondly, it is a tale of what is really important in life--not the adventure, but those family and friends who share it with us. The message is smoothly interwoven into the story with the same skill Batson has shown in his Door Within trilogy. Nearly every reader should be enthralled by this fast-paced story set on the high seas.

I fell in love with this book from the first sentence. I've read it three times and will read it again in order to prepare for Isle of Fire. I adore the whole "pirate genre", but it's so hard these days to find something clean and well-written in that area. Wayne Thomas Batson more than delivered a book I could read without cringing, and still not put down. So intense it made me jump... So vivid it made me see what was going on like a movie in my head... So emotional it made me cry. Please read it, you won't be disappointed.