SHIPPING is of course a superb source of material for a novel. At least that’s what those of us in shipping think!
As if to prove it, maritime PR guru and former mariner, John Guy of Merlin Corporate Communications, has recently published his first novel, The Reluctant Pirate. I bought it two days ago and, a few chapters in, I’m already terribly worried for the main character, Abdi. Testament perhaps to John’s convincing character portrayal…
The book is fast-moving and easy to read with a great twist in the end.
Brought up in Cardiff in a Somali family, Abdi goes to Somalia for an arranged marriage. The father of his bride is a local pirate leader, who is having a tough time and forces Abdi to join in a pirate attack. The attack is bungled but in the end they capture a Greek-owned tanker with a multi-national crew.
The shipowner, a high-profile businessman with conflicting interests, wrangles with his insurers while the pirates struggle to protect the ship in lawless Somalia. While Abdi is attracted to his arranged bride, he contrasts her with the young female Norwegian second officer on the ship. She is desperate to escape and Abdi helps, leading to unexpected consequences. Their plight highlights Abdi’s conflicts between family, tradition and upbringing and the hypocrisies and hidden agendas which drive modern piracy.
The book is available only on Amazon Kindle. If you do not have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app from Amazon. This will enable you to read Kindle e-books on all PC, Mac, Android and tablet devices, including iPhones and iPads.
For more information go to www.thereluctantpirate.com. To purchase: www.amazon.com / www.amazon.co.uk.
