Bilge Rat: Pirate Adventurer

Bilge Rat - Pirate Adventurer is a three part series drawn from the imagination and investigation of Kevin Charles Smith in this remarkable debut. Described as "Mutiny on the Bounty meets Pirates of the Caribbean with an Oliver Twist", this first volume is written with incredible detail and historical accuracy. William Eden and brother Toby are two helpless orphans in early 1700 London. Taken in by an aged clerical uncle, the boys are assigned specific maintenance duties in the cavernous Saint Agnes of Agony Basilica. By day, their duty is to clean, wax and maintain the aged facility for their uncle whose failing eyesight prevents his presence or assistance. Each day the lads are also provided a lesson de jour by their learned and caring relative who bestows upon them quite a solid education. One day, while William is practicing his language lessons, he utilizes the natural echo-like chamber of the empty basilica to ensure his translations are precisely correct. In the process, he discovers that he has a natural talent that enables him to duplicate all manner of sounds and voices. From that point on, he decides to keep his fabulous talent secret and changes his name to Echo thereby hiding this special talent in plain sight. By night, the boy s assignment is to venture down into the creepy bowels of the church to eradicate the pesky rodent population. Charged with a daily bounty of 25 tails or be penalized their one daily meal, Echo devises a variety of methods to reach their rattail goal . In the end, Echo duplicates rat speech (at least rat squeaks and squeals) and like the fabled Pied Piper leads the odious cellar dwelling creatures to their doom. Due to this ability to easily capture their prey, the boys have time on their hands and begin exploration of London at night. Their travels take them to Slugger s Emporium, a gaming and drinking establishment for the wicked and depraved. These nightly excursions also take them to the London docks where they routinely trespass on various docked ships for fun and excitement. On one such vessel they are discovered by a kind hearted cook named Handy, who befriends them and regales them with exciting stories from his many voyages. At the same time, the brothers are tormented by a vicious bully named Scarf Rockingham. By a series of unique ruses, Echo implicates Scarf in a number of dastardly deeds which leads to the villain s punishment thereby establishing an undying hatred for the brothers. Scarf eventually abducts Toby and savagely murders their aged uncle implicating Echo for this horrific crime. Echo is forced to flee his homeland and joins Handy for a voyage to the New World. Beginning as a cook s assistant, Echo learns the vital art of navigation and survival aboard ship. Haunted and persecuted by the vessel s bullying first mate, Echo must devise all manner of tricks and gambits to simply remain alive. Along the way, he saves both the ship and three aged traveling sisters from a band of bloodthirsty pirates earning the respect and gratitude of all.

Harken back to the Golden Age of Piracy, an exceedingly brief but highly memorable epoch. Launched at the beginning of the 1700's, this unforgettable twinkling in time spawned such notorious and celebrated reprobates as Blackbeard, Calico Jack and Black Bart to name but a few. Glamorized and sensationalized by novels and the silver screen to an unrealistic and surreal level, these nautical hooligans have been cast in the roles of noble, gallant, misguided or misunderstood daredevils and protagonists. These erroneous portrayals could not be any further from the truth. In reality, pirates were notorious criminals and despicable cowards responsible for wonton acts of savagery, barbarity and bloodthirstiness. Bilge Rat Pirate Adventurer paints a vastly different and much more realistic picture of the harsh and brutal world of pirates. Expunged are the orchestrated swashbuckling duels amongst rivals, the storied histrionics of saving damsels from unspeakable defilement, the Hollywood-created fantasy of innocents walking the plank to their eternal doom and the ridiculous folly of these fiends actually burying hard-fought booty on some deserted atoll. Rather, this unique and action-packed series depicts a realistic and genuine account of life amongst these sea vultures, while providing a highly powerful and entertaining reading experience. The series centers on a young lad and his lifelong trials and tribulations. Orphaned as a youth, our hero is forced to flee his beloved homeland due to the evil machinations of a despicable bully. Highly educated by a cleric uncle and fluent in a slew of foreign languages, the youth is forced to quickly adapt to the rigorous and unmerciful life as a sailor. By fate's grace, the burgeoning tar has been gifted with a special ability to duplicate all manner of sounds and voices, which enables him to outwit contemptible adversaries and avoid mortal dangers throughout his travels. This raw recruit is sea-seasoned by a host of highly memorable, charismatic and fascinating rascals and rogues. At the same time, our hero is tormented and bedeviled by an abundance of malignant, malicious and lethal enemies. Only his well-honed quick thinking and cunning can keep him out of harms way. The star-crossed adventurer is eventually captured and forced into a life of piracy by a mangy and noxious band of sea wolves. Caught up in a world of nautical psychopaths, miscreants and scalawags, the series paints a realistic account of everyday life aboard a pirate ship, along with documenting a myriad of insidious and malevolent depredations wrought by these sea devils. This refreshing and novel series also introduces an appalling pirate scourge--The Black Tarantula. This pirate demon is nothing more than evil personified. He is a lethal threat to all humanity as he treats his numerous victims with utmost malice, torment and hideous annihilation. This diabolical archfiend takes a particular interest in our young hero and spends considerable effort persecuting and vexing his well being and livelihood. Chocked full of rollicking and captivating sea tales and sailor's yarns, this novel and exciting series is a must read for every pirate aficionado!