#58 Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer
The following review has spoilers for previous Bloody Jack books, mainly In the Belly of the Bloodhound. I'll try to keep the spoilers light for
Mississippi Jack.
After escaping imprisonment aboard the slave ship “The Bloodhound,” Jacky Faber is eager to get back to life in Boston, and reunite with her beloved Jaimy Fletcher. Only before the two can properly reunite, she finds herself arrested for piracy. Thanks to the help of her friends, she manages to escape again. Determining that it's best to lie low, she decides to head south to New Orleans on a trip aboard the Mississippi River. Ever the entrepreneur, Jacky uses this opportunity to start a successful traveling showboat. But the fun and games won't last forever, as Jacky is forced to face some of the consequences to her actions.
Mississippi Jack is the fifth book in LA Meyer's Bloody Jack Series, which focus on the adventures of a strong willed young woman living in the early 1800s. Admittedly, Mississippi Jack is not the strongest book in the series. There are strange developments to the plot, such as the prepubescent Jim Tanner (around 10-12 In The Belly of a Bloodhound), experiencing a bit of soap opera style aging, gaining years over a few months in order to place him in a very adult relationship. And although part of the fun of the series is the fact that Jacky's adventures are a bit over the top, the plot this time around occasionally seems a little too ridiculous (a tornado?). Another drawback of the book is the secondary plot involving Jaimy Fletcher. Although the idea of Jaimy having his own side adventure sounds like a lot of fun, the results are kind of uneven. This is mostly due to the character of Mike Fink, who is great in small doses, but really annoying in large ones.
Despite my complaints, I did find Mississippi Jack to be an overall solid addition to the series. Part of what keeps me coming back to these books are the lovable cast of characters. Jacky is a great protagonist and the rest of the cast is just as great. I was really happy to see my favorite secondary character, Higgins, play a large part. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Katy Deere was going to make a big appearance, as she proved to be a really interesting character in In the Belly of the Bloodhound. The plot of Mississippi Jack has a bit of a different feel, as it's very focused on frontier life, and life on the Mississippi, much like a Mark Twain novel (there's even a very obvious reference to Huck Finn). At fist, I missed the nautical feel of the previous books, but I soon grew to enjoy Jacky's Mississippi adventures. I think my favorite sections of Mississippi Jack would have to be the scenes where Jacky visits a Shawnee tribe, and learns about a nefarious plot of her own countrymen.
Although Mississippi Jack certainly has it's issues, I was pretty happy with the book on a whole. Once again, I really recommend the audiobook version, as Katherine Kellgren is a fantastic narrator with a real talent for crafting a wide variety of voices with many different different accents.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version if 611 pages
Source: Lewiston Publc Library- Overdrive Media Console
Other books I've read by this author: Bloody Jack, The Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Under the Jolly Roger, In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Next I will be reviewing Deadline by Mira Grant, and Paper Towns by John Green.
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
Mississippi Jack.
After escaping imprisonment aboard the slave ship “The Bloodhound,” Jacky Faber is eager to get back to life in Boston, and reunite with her beloved Jaimy Fletcher. Only before the two can properly reunite, she finds herself arrested for piracy. Thanks to the help of her friends, she manages to escape again. Determining that it's best to lie low, she decides to head south to New Orleans on a trip aboard the Mississippi River. Ever the entrepreneur, Jacky uses this opportunity to start a successful traveling showboat. But the fun and games won't last forever, as Jacky is forced to face some of the consequences to her actions.
Mississippi Jack is the fifth book in LA Meyer's Bloody Jack Series, which focus on the adventures of a strong willed young woman living in the early 1800s. Admittedly, Mississippi Jack is not the strongest book in the series. There are strange developments to the plot, such as the prepubescent Jim Tanner (around 10-12 In The Belly of a Bloodhound), experiencing a bit of soap opera style aging, gaining years over a few months in order to place him in a very adult relationship. And although part of the fun of the series is the fact that Jacky's adventures are a bit over the top, the plot this time around occasionally seems a little too ridiculous (a tornado?). Another drawback of the book is the secondary plot involving Jaimy Fletcher. Although the idea of Jaimy having his own side adventure sounds like a lot of fun, the results are kind of uneven. This is mostly due to the character of Mike Fink, who is great in small doses, but really annoying in large ones.
Despite my complaints, I did find Mississippi Jack to be an overall solid addition to the series. Part of what keeps me coming back to these books are the lovable cast of characters. Jacky is a great protagonist and the rest of the cast is just as great. I was really happy to see my favorite secondary character, Higgins, play a large part. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Katy Deere was going to make a big appearance, as she proved to be a really interesting character in In the Belly of the Bloodhound. The plot of Mississippi Jack has a bit of a different feel, as it's very focused on frontier life, and life on the Mississippi, much like a Mark Twain novel (there's even a very obvious reference to Huck Finn). At fist, I missed the nautical feel of the previous books, but I soon grew to enjoy Jacky's Mississippi adventures. I think my favorite sections of Mississippi Jack would have to be the scenes where Jacky visits a Shawnee tribe, and learns about a nefarious plot of her own countrymen.
Although Mississippi Jack certainly has it's issues, I was pretty happy with the book on a whole. Once again, I really recommend the audiobook version, as Katherine Kellgren is a fantastic narrator with a real talent for crafting a wide variety of voices with many different different accents.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version if 611 pages
Source: Lewiston Publc Library- Overdrive Media Console
Other books I've read by this author: Bloody Jack, The Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Under the Jolly Roger, In the Belly of the Bloodhound
Next I will be reviewing Deadline by Mira Grant, and Paper Towns by John Green.
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads