I have enjoyed watching Gene Hackman as an actor. He has had both starring roles and supporting ones in some great films. Now Gene has taken on yet another co-starring role. He is the co-author of a book about sea-faring young men in the early 1800's. This book has all sorts of fun stuff in it; pirates, women and murder. The name of the book is Wake Of The Perdido Star. The book was co-written by Daniel Lenihan. It was published by Newmarket Press.

The year is 1805. Young Jackson O'Reilly is about to move again. It seems that his father is such a fundamentalist that he keeps getting run out of towns. Ethan O'Reilly believes that everyone deserves a chance in America. At a Hamden, Connecticut Town Meeting, Ethan speaks his mind against some business owners and community leaders who want to turn away immigrants. Ethan is so outspoken in the meeting that their landlord evicts them on a false pretense. Having been run out of one town or another, the O'Reilly's need to find a land where their views won't be stymied.

Jack's mother, Pilar, is from Cuba. Her family had owned some land there. The O'Reilly's could go to Cuba and try to work the sugar cane fields of Pilar's family. The Count Di Silva has been looking after the property. In letters to Pilar, the Count has said that the fields should yield crops in a few short years after having suffered from storms and other farming catastrophes.

Ethan and the family meet the captain of the Perdido Star, the ship that will take them to Cuba. They will need to raise some money for their passage.

On the way to the dock to sail to Cuba, Jack stops and asks directions from a very pretty girl. Jack is so enthralled that he later invites her for a cup of tea. This beautiful young lady is named Colleen.

Ethan tries to sell off their horses so that they can sail to Cuba. An unethical man cheats Ethan out of a fair price for the horses. Jack is very upset by this. Ethan is just too gullible. But Ethan insists that they do nothing about the cheating.

Before they sail, Jack goes back and fights with the man who cheated them. He beats the man up and then heads back to the ship for his date with Colleen. He never gets to have that date and she has to wait on the dock as the Perdido Star sails away to Cuba.

Once the ship lands in Cuba, the O'Reilly's are made guests of the Count at his villa in Habana. He is very nice to them. He offers to help them with the land.

During the trip to Cuba, the Perdido Star had picked up the survivor of a shipwreck. This young man's name was Paul Le Maire. After numerous disagreements with his father and the people at the learning institutions that Paul had attended, he sail away from Europe to make a better life for himself. He didn't expect to be shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean.

Jack wanders around Habana and hooks up with Paul. It seems that Paul is being added on as a crew member on the Perdido Star. The young men eventually gravitate back to the villa where Paul is totally unimpressed by the boorishness of the Count. He ends up stealing a book from the Count and giving it to Jack. The book later saves Jack's life.

The O'Reilly family later takes a tour of the land that belonged to Pilar. They find that the Count has been lying to them about the land. Then they are ambushed and both Pilar and Evan are killed. The killers also think that they have killed off Jack.

Jack makes his way to the Perdido Star and Paul gets him aboard just as the ship is about to sail. Paul helps get Jack healthy again. Both of them end up working on the ship as crew members.

From that point the book takes you through a series of nautical catastrophes. There are severe storms and a captain who has seemed to have lost his mind. Captain Deploy has been around Cape Horn numerous times. But this time he wants to do it a little bit different. He doesn't seem to be making too many rational decisions.

Quince is the crew member who ends up taking the leadership role of the ship. Under his guidance the ship survives several storms and troubles. The ship ends up being wrecked on an island.

The crew of the Perdido Star ends up making friends with the people who live on a nearby island. These islanders work side by side with the crew to help repair the ship.

Then a Dutch ship comes into the area looking for people to enslave. Through a series of tricks, Paul and Jack almost have the Dutch ship for the Perdido crew. But the plan goes awry and the Dutch ship is severely damaged. The men now have to repair the ship in order to sail on.

All during this time Jack's hatred for the Count is mounting. Not only did the Count steal the land, but he ordered the death of all of the O'Reilly's. Jack needs to get back to Cuba to settle the score. And he also would like to have that date with Colleen.

The ship sails into the Philippines and stops in Manila. There they find that Jack has been branded as a leading Pirate. Both the British and American government want to talk to Jack about being in their service. It seems that things are heating up between the two leaderships again. If there is to be a war, privateers will be needed. Who better to have on your side than the notorious Jack O'Reilly?

I've got to stop here. To tell you the truth, I have probably given away too much of the plot. But to detail any more of the story wouldn't be fair. I would rather that you read for yourself what happens to Jack and Paul.

The Wake Of The Perdido Star is a remarkable novel. It proves that Gene Hackman is a multi-talented entertainer. Daniel Lenihan also proves that he is a good storyteller and nautical historian. Together they have written a novel that is indeed a pleasure to read.

Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers