Caribbee Paperback – November 22, 2010

Wow, did I love this amazing book! It truly was like a James Clavell or Leon Uris historical novel where a great deal of research has gone into the accurate historical background, and the fiction and fictional characters were created to fit into the history--rather than recreating history to fit the whims of the author's fiction. I know, because this book had me bouncing all over the internet reading maps and histories to delve deeper into the stories. I should have been awarded three college credits for how much I learned before I was done and I now know more about the Puritan Reformation and Caribbean history than I will ever need to know again. It was a complex story that could have been written in two volumes, but wasn't, and even though it was a double-sized story, I was still heart-broken to finish it knowing how hard it would be to move on to lesser books, but, hey, give me a few years, and I'll be reading it again. I do have some criticisms--like wasn't the hero just a bit too noble and patient for a dissolute smuggler--but they are outweighed by the sheer enjoyment of the adventure, indeed, battles and adventure galore. This is a book for lovers of historical fiction who love history, rather than lovers of "historical fiction" who love bodice-rippers. It may be more of a "man's book" than chick lit, but that's okay with me.

“Caribbee” is a loosely-based historical fiction novel covering a period in the mid 1600’s. The general plot does include other Caribbean islands, but is largely based on the island of Barbados. I use the term ‘loosely’based’ for two reasons. First, the author chose to portray events that took place in multiple locations involving numerous people over about a 10-year period. As such, a lot of history and action is pinned on the main characters, which seemed to make for an ambitious and somewhat unbelievable plot. Second, parts of the novel felt more like a romance story complete with steamy sex scenes.I did some limited research on my own, and I thought the primary plot was greatly exaggerated in the novel compared to what actually took place on the island of Barbados. There were some elements of truth in the story, but it seemed the author was pretty liberal in adding in elements involving buccaneers, piracy, and a desire to speak out against the brutality and injustice of slavery. If you can distance yourself from what actually happened during this timeframe, you wind up with a pretty fun pirate story.One phrase that particularly bugged me was some form of “… as sure as I’m a Christian”, which was typically uttered in conjunction with non-Christian ideals. I think the author was potentially trying to show the hypocrisy of the Protestants (Puritans) and Papists (Catholics), but even the pirates used some form of the phrase to describe their actions. I didn’t see any sense of Christian motivations and actions in the book, and perhaps that was the point the author was trying to make as people were motivated by greed, lust, and alcohol.Overall, the book was an okay read for me because I like my historical fiction novels to more closely follow history and the frequent and somewhat graphic sex scenes made me feel like I was reading a romance novel.

There is a scene early on in Caribbee that captured the entire book for me. While on Barbados, our dashing buccanneer Hugh Winston takes a tour of the new Sugar Plantation. The entire process is described and we read as the cane is crushed, the juices gathered, and then they flow down to the curing house. In between some light banter between our main characters becomes part political statement, part flirtation, part character development. Though well written, the entire scene stretches over several pages until you feel what could have been a great book, with wonderful writing becomes too slowly paced to do it justice.This feeling returns time and time again. Adding to the sense of weak pacing is an annoying tendency towards repetition. For example, just when the action is heating up as the English invade the island, a main character will summarize what (s)he feels will be the next step in the negotiations (summarize should be read as several paragraphs). Then a letter will come and be reprinted explaining exactly that. Then, the same characters will discuss and re-summarize the same details. This happens in several of what should have been the most exciting, swashbuckling scenes.Also detracting was the author's refusal to have smooth transitions between scenes. We read as an African ceremony is carried in secret, again slow burning to a crescendo over several pages, and no sooner do we reach the climax, then the very next paragraph is explaining some mundane proceeding or over reaching love scene somewhere else on the island. There is no transition, or paragraph/section break, just a quick jump from one location to the next that is jarring to say the least.What Mr. Hoover does well, however, is take us to a place in time and shows us the inner workings of the first true American revolution (100 years before the "fight for independence"). Again, the writing is done well and he handles the bevy of characters with ease. However, someone, somewhere, should have mentioned the pacing, the repetition, and the other hurdles that prevented this read from being something truly special.But, as a free Kindle read, you could definitely do worse.

The story was pretty good, but not great.In spite of the rather detailed afterword, I am unsure how near Mr. Hoover followed BArbadian historyThere are some technical issues I have with Mr, Hoover regarding his terminology concerning firearms an ship types. At various times he refers to all shipe as "frigates" and apparently he doesn't know that brigs, and brigantines are not synonymous terms, and neither class of ship has three masts.My complaints merely reflect some of my personal pet peeves, and should not be interpreted as a condemnation of the book> I actually rather enjoyed the book. I simply wish Mr. Hoover has spent more time researching 17th Century firearms, including artillery, and ship types.

Downloaded free and became my night time read so I can't really complain. I enjoyed the history aspect and discovered facts I did not previously known. I was hoping for a good romp with plenty of swash and buckle and as the characters built up slowly it looked like that was going to happen. However every time it started rollicking along the story would suddenly break and switch to another character which I found slightly irritating. When we finally got on with the hero's big plan the story built up then suddenly just fizzled out into somewhat of an anti climax leaving me very disappointed. I did enjoy the background and research that went into this and the fact that it was loosely based on real characters but I do feel the style was not for me as it left me wanting.

Overall I enjoyed the book but it did seem to all too frequently skip from one character, scenario or subject to a distinctly different one. Historically factual yet lacking in detail, it didn't grip me as some similar books can. It lacked more description of the places with their flora and fauna and goegraphical feature which could have added greatly to it.The main character, based as was obvious from early in the book on Henry Morgan had plans and desires to take Jamaica from the Spaniards, but this fizzled out in a matter of a few pages and nothing more of this potentially fascinating character was heard.Having said that, overall interesting enough for me to try another of his books.

Having visited Barbados many times, I liked the setting and the historical detail but the author seemed undecided whether to write historical fiction or historical romance, throwing in the stereotypical beautiful, independent female character (quite unrealistic for the time I would have thought) and some incongruous love/sex scenes. I thought the story would have been quite interesting enough without this. Also the Kindle edition has been poorly proofread...the most notable example is that wherever the word "defiance" appears it is shown in italics as "Defiance", this being the name of the male protagonist's ship even where the ship is not being referred to. A bad case of unchecked find and replace!

If you have downloaded this book and found it full of mysterious hyphens (or, as Caribee would have it: "If you have down-loaded this book and found it full of myst-erious hy-phens) here's the reason why.The clue is in the front page. This is the "Smashwords" edition and books submitted to Smashwords have to be submitted in a different format to books submitted to Kindle.If you have a Kindle Keyboard (like me) the text will include innumerable extra hyphens. Also, the beginning and end of paragraphs will be unclear - making it hard to understand who is speaking.I also have a tablet with a Kindle app - the same download appears on-screen with clear formatting and no hyphens.So it depends on the devise you are using. It might be useful if those who have the extra hyphens (etc) 'comment' on this review and say which devise they are using. That way, prospective readers will know what to expect.With regard to the story - it's okay. It would be a four star story but the sex scenes let it down (all very eighties... a cross between Mills & Boon and "The Joy of sex"), the typos let it down again and the hyphens etc just add insult to injury.

The research carried out by the author should have made for an exciting adventure story as well as a dip into a fascinating glimpse of a period of important history.Unfortunately the overuse of words, repetition of phrases and a muddled structure of events led me to become bored.It is very sad that so much diligent research was not accompanied by ruthless pruning by an experienced editor.

I've read two books so far by Thomas Hoover - both on the Kindle. As already mentioned the hyphenation is terrible and really distracting - however the books themselves are well written enough to overcome this not insignificant problem. As free Kindle books they are really a cut above most and it's only the problem with the hyphenation that spoils them. This one is an engrossing story set in the Caribbean and mixes romance, adventure and historical fact and as such does a really excellent job. I like the mix of fact and fiction and learned quite a lot about our history at the time of the civil war and afterwards. It also deals with the beginning of the slave trade, the establishment of Tortuga (that place we all know and love from Pirates of the Caribbean) and the history of piracy and plantations. I'd recommend it to anyone who can bear training their mind to ignore the hyphens, and it loses one star because of this.

............... fast & furious.Set in 17th century Barbados during the turmoil of The English Civil war. It is a rattling good tale of Buccaneers, Planters, slavery (white & black) and the fight for Independence from Cromwell's commonwealth.Well written, (except for random use of hyphens), well researched and thoroughly believable. The characters are realistic. The two main characters, Hugh Winston ( a borderline buccaneer) & Katy Beckford ( the rich planters daughter) are likeable and I started to empathise with their predicament.The plot twists & turns in a roller coaster of a yarn.I find with well researched and written Historical Fiction I start to read & research more about the relevant background once i have finished the book. I did with this unknown ( to me) aspect of England's History.Recommended.

This is the second book I have read by Thomas Hoover, and again, it is a cracking read.Like The Moghul, it is set in a time and a place that is unusual for historical fiction. The author does a really good job of making you feel and understand the environments in which the story is set without it sounding like.a history lesson.The story is strong, and interesting and kept me gripped all of the way through. There are plenty of heroes, villains and damsels, as well as treachery, slaves and pirates.All in all, great read. I have to agree with other reviewers that the unwanted hyphens are a real distraction on the kindle, but, strangely, when I read some of the book on the kindle app for iPad, the hyphens are not present. Strange but true!

There's little original about this tale of buccaneers in the Caribbean, but if you're a fan of the pirate films of the Errol Flynn era, you'll love this. Hoover does a fine job balancing plotting, history, romance and adventure. His choice to set the action in the mid-1600s, at the very beginning of English settlement in the region, is a good one as this era isn't often written about; bringing in strands of the English Civil War, the introduction of slavery and the beginnings of the tilt in power from the Spanish to the English. His hero and heroine are stereotypical (the disenfranchised but still honourable aristocrat turned buccaneer and the rebellious governor's daughter) but their characterisation is strong enough for you to like both of them and keep reading to find out what happens to them. Sub-plots and secondary characters involving Yoruba slaves, exiled Royalists and grasping plantation owners add interest. Plot-wise, it's obvious Hoover's main genre is thriller writing, as he keeps the pace brisk and jumps between romance, battle, politics, etc. The scene is always moving on before you have a chance to get bored. My only real complaint: Rotten formatting on the Kindle edition. While Hoover frequently changes scenes, the formatting doesn't keep up with him, so you have to get used to the next paragraph suddenly catapulting you somewhere else. Our hero's ship is named the "Defiance", so someone used automatic copy editing to capitalise and italicise every reference, including plenty that don't refer to his ship. Irritating, but I suppose you can't complain about the format of a free download!

Amazing that this is currently a freebie.. Although the kindle formatting could be better Thomas Hoover is an accomplished author, and this full length novel is a treat. It covers a wide variety of characters, adventure,action, romance, social evil and history. Too much for one book really. The richness and depth of character and situations could easily have made 2-3 novels for the story so far. Although a stand alone novel the ending fizzles out a bit with so much more that could be told.The author appears to dismiss the turbulent future of the region in an historical postscript. I do hope he returns to these characters and lets them continue their part in that history

Not as good as PROJECT CYCLOPS which I actually could not put down! Maybe it was an earlier work or maybe it was the subject matter, but this one did not hold my attention at all - I think I should give it another chance sometime, after all, it was FREE.

I contemplated giving this book three stars, but I have finally settled on four, mainly because of the fascinating subject matter.I'd like to get it out of the way to start with that there are formatting issues with this book, especially with paragraphing and the already commented upon hyphens. It struck me as a little lazy, and if that's the sort of thing that you'd struggle to get past, then I wouldn't recommend this tale.This book does well by being epic in its proportions and representations of a growing West Indies in the 16th Century, as well as the effect of the English Civil War upon those islands.I believe the author set out to copy the style of James Clavell's SHOGUN, and would say that he has mostly been successful. It focuses on many different point of view characters, each telling a seemingly massive tale.I do think the story would progress a lot faster if some elements were ruthlessly cut, and the pace increased, but overall it was good, and I have to add that I love the book cover!

This is my 3rd Thomas Hoover book and I have to say he is becoming a favourite. His storytelling is first rate.A tale of 17th century West Indies/Caribbean with the early colonists, Cromwell, the Puritans, the Royalists and the buccaneers (pirates to the Spanish), based mainly in Barbados, is well researched and fully believeable as something that could well have happened during the period.Like other reviewers I downloaded for free and agree it better than some of the stuff I've paid for.

This book was a hell of a good read!I used to love reading Clavell & Mitchener and missed their style...the in depthness of their books......not any more!The detail is the novel is absorbing to say the least, it appears to be very well researched and this shines through in every page.Plots and sub plots are all tightly interwoven creating nothing short of a masterpiece in my view.Probably the best read I have had on my Kindle!

Although I found the style of writing a little stiff and slow, I do love a historical novel so I persevered. I enjoyed the many detailed descriptions of naval military and every day life combined with an interesting tale of Carribbean history. Worth the effort.