Rating: 
Summary: Agree w/Taxton: Gerardi's book blows up in author's face
Review: Must say I agree with Gene Taxton. Gerardi's lack of knowledge about firearms makes the book fall apart at key juncture. I disagree with the Australian lady. She misses Taxton's point entirely. How does she so keenly know what the author knows, and does not know? All we have is the text. The text clearly shows how little Gerardi knows about that which he is writing. He has never been to Africa and never fired a Wembley, and as Mr. Taxton so rightly puts it, who in God's name would seek out a Wembley in our time? This book reads like a "This Boy's Life" adapted by someone who grew up fantasizing on National Geographic magazine issues. By the way, where's the second edition of any of Gerardi's books? Nowhere. Quite.
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant and sensually written adventure romp
Review: Our man Girardi returns with his sophomore effort which must have scared the bojeezus out of him to write. How does anyone follow up Madeleine's Ghost? Impossible. But Girardi delivers with a grittier edge and a faster moving plot. The book works because it avoids sentimentality and even implies that evil is natural and not a necessarily unwelcome thing (although evil is most resoundingly squashed at the end). Unspoken throughout this work is the benevolent hand of fate which moves all lives forward. The protagonist here has an overwhelming sense of dread which prevents him from moving forward with his life. Well, fate has carefully planned this route for our hero, but it has also planned a rocket ship ride--which happens in the classically archetypical way--by boat. While unquestionably a great story with sublime writing, the book teaches. While subtle, the lesson Girardi is teaching involves faith--faith in the Prime Mover who takes an interest in all our lives. Furthermore, it is a benign interest which wants us to take full advantage of our time here. A fine lesson, I think. In any event, the novel is a gem and should be appreciated for its fine writing, its engaging plot and its wisdom.
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Summary: A short marvelous read!
Review: Positively mesmerizing if you want to escape for the day! Intrigue, suspense and action together with fascinating characters pull you into this novel and keep you there until the end. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: An extremely creative tale.
Review: The twists in the plot are so important that you should not read detailed reviews (like the Kirkus one on this web page)before reading The Pirate's Daughter. This book is full of surprising twists and turns. Very unpredictable. Unconventional. An incredibly creative work. I can't think of another book like it. Full of adventure, adventure moreover that puts you in moral dilemmas--very provoking and definitely not "escapism" or mere entertainment. It is seemingly an improbable tale--who believes in pirates these days?--but I actually recall news reports of piracy in the south seas even today. This may be a "guy" book--a male's fantasy of being conned/abducted by an irresistably sensual woman into a world-class adventure. On the other hand, maybe this could be a female fantasy too? I like the way characters in an episode in the beginning, in New York, tie in with events in Afria in the end of the book. Nothing is disconnected. The book is tight. The only thing about the book that made me uneasy was its characterization of West Africa which, having travelled there myself, seemed stereotypically negative and uninformed. There are many Africas, and this is definitely one of them (the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone come to mind), but it's not the one I like to think about.
Rating:
Summary: All I Can Say Is, "Wow!"
Review: What a great book! I read Madeline's Ghost a few months ago, and I thought it was quite a tale - but I enjoyed Pirate's Daughter much more. It is an adventure tale, but with love intrigues that make you squirm. I found myself "hoping" certain things would happen, but he kept surprising me. Please Mr. Girardi - keep on writing!
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Summary: Wouldn't this make a great movie?
Review: When I first started reading this book, I thought that it was written more like a short story. The succint sentences and short chapters led me to think that the book was about to end. But as I got to the Second part of the novella, I was engrossed in the lust, mystery and passion between the two lovers. By the time they reached Quatre sables I could not put the book down! This book, recommended by a friend will be recommended to others because it instils in you the sense that the human spirit is not at all easily quashed.
Rating: 
Summary: Taste and smell Africa
Review: When the early plot became apparent I couldn't help but consider it just a fraction ridiculous. But then Africa loomed over the horizon and suddenly, as I was reading this in bed in far off Australia, the smells, sounds and even the tastes of Africa and with it the plot filled my senses.Letting the imagination run wild, well I hope this is all imagination, the book became captivating. Great late at night!
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Where to start? This book is crammed full of phony history, phony geography, phony science, phony anthropology, and (most unforgivable of all) phony philosophy -- none of which is either relevant to the plot or convincing. The plot lurches from one impossible coincidence to another. People act in reckless disregard of easily foreseeable consequences. Pirates spout history lessons for no reason (as if they'd care). Sailors allow 30-foot waves to "hit the side of their ship" with no apparent harm (um, you're supposed to sail into them). One snort of magic potion cures a longstanding mental problem. The tarot cards at the beginning are harped on ad nauseam and then forgotten for the rest of the book. The author is in serious need of a dictionary to learn the meanings of words like "translucent", "phosphorescent", and "founder" (he likes that one so much he misuses it at least three times). His imagery rivals that of William Peter Blatty at his purplest. It's upsetting to think that this man is actually teaching writing rather than trying to learn it -- though there is little evidence that he could. Skip this.
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