Pirate King

A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

By: Laurie R. King

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Laurie R. King’s books have received high praise from critics and have earned the Edgar, Creasey, Wolfe, Lambda, and Macavity awards. As Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes embark on their 11th adventure together, they find themselves immersed in the world of silent filmmaking. Here, the pirates are real—and unlike the shooting done with a camera, this sort can be deadly.

In England’s young silent-film industry, the megalomaniacal Randolph Fflytte is king. Nevertheless, at the request of Scotland Yard, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate rumors of criminal activities that swirl around Fflytte’s popular movie studio. So Russell is traveling undercover to Portugal, along with the film crew that is gearing up to shoot a cinematic extravaganza, Pirate King. Based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the project will either set the standard for moviemaking for a generation - or sink a boatload of careers.

Nothing seems amiss until the enormous company starts rehearsals in Lisbon, where the 13 blond-haired, blue-eyed actresses whom Mary is bemusedly chaperoning meet the swarm of real buccaneers Fflytte has recruited to provide authenticity. But when the crew embarks for Morocco and the actual filming, Russell feels a building storm of trouble: a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance—and now the pirates are ignoring Fflytte and answering only to their dangerous outlaw leader. Plus, there’s a spy on board. Where can Sherlock Holmes be? As movie make-believe becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout.

Pirate King is a Laurie King treasure chest—thrilling, intelligent, romantic, a swiftly unreeling masterpiece of suspense.

Listen to another Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

©2011 Laurie R.King (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Skip this one - you won't miss much

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book is NOT in line with the quality of rest of the series , that I've already listened to. I'd have skipped it if I knew - nothing to miss- you'll have to trust me !

Broken File!

It froze my iPod right at the beginning -- over and over again. Too bad -- I love this series.

First real disappointment in the series

I love the series and truly looked forward to the listen, but it was really off. I would only recommend to Ms. King to go back to basics and involve Holmes more. As others also mentioned I would not mind a mystery a bit closer to their home.

Just could not get into this book

I did not finish this book! I can't believe this happened to me. I tried. I tried three or four times but I just couldn't get into it. Finally I just started hopping through the story clicking here and there hoping to find something going on that would grab me. In desperation I finally clicked about ten minutes from the end and listened to the ending.

It seemed to me that Laurie King had gotten The Pirates of Penzance stuck in her head and couldn't let go of it. The story was all fluff and no edge. Some folks have said that Holmes only put in a token appearance in this book. Well, I for one don't blame him. The whole thing was very un-Holmes like. Not his kind of thing at all.

I sincerely hope that this was not a harbinger of where King is planning to go with this series. If so she has just lost a faithful reader in me and I would truly hate for that to happen. Oh well . . . . .

There just is no there there

Laurie R. King is one of my favorite writers and I love this series, but I was seriously disappointed in Pirate King.

So what happened to the plot? That's the real mystery of this book.
It just rambles on and on with one more antic of a 2-dimensional character after another. They all get captured & held for ransom, but I didn't even care! Oh my, there goes Mary picking some locks again. Oh goodness, there's the short director wearing lime green. Oh my, the star actress wants a feather bed. Hark! Could that violin playing be ... Holmes? HO HUM.

Sniff. I was really looking forward to this.

Why? For the love of God, Why???

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

There is no possible way this deviation from the norm could have been a 4-5 star book. From the boring, laborous extremely long set up to the cardboard cutout supporting characters, the author indeed, to use Holmes words in the being of this drivil, "conducted an experiment". It failed miserably. It got to the point where I was daydreaming, missed some plot, and DIDN'T CARE. Just wanted it to end.

And end it did, with a abysmal Hollywood wrapup, shallow and contrived. This was simply a "pay the mortgage" piece of work, done purely for revenue or to sastify a contractual obligation.

What could Laurie R. King have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not write it. That being said, Russell on her own is simply not a strong enough character to carry a plot for such an extended time. It is her interplay with Holmes, much like Nick and Nora, and other detective couples of note, that makes the work have legs. Too little Holmes and all the rest of the trappings sag into tedium. Russell's independence streak becomes annoying, the exigious on the historical milieu become irritating and the pacing become lumbering. Stay true to your original muse, Ms. King and you will create a portfolio to rival and yea, surpass Robert Parker. "Experiment" at your peril.

Which character – as performed by Jenny Sterlin – was your favorite?

Holmes. But even he could not save this work.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Pirate King?

A third of the first 2/3rds. But then it would have become a short story.

A Thorn Amongst the Roses

I am gobsmasked!!! I have been blissfully pouring through the books in this series and, after the fabulous development of Book 8 and 9, this book is hurled into the mix. It seems to taint the rest of the series. Yes, that dreadful. The book reads more like a disappointing docu-drama about the making of a silent film with drab characters and boring plot lines. How could anyone make pirates boring??? Well, this book manages to do just that. For anyone reading this series for the first time - do yourself a huge favor and omit this book. It is insulting to the reader and to the characters of Holmes, Russell and even Mycroft. What a shame to include such an inferior book in this great series.

If there were negative stars

Please don't get this book! I've been a Laurie R. King fan for years but with this latest iteration of Mary Russell, King has jumped the shark. Jenny Sterlin's wonderful reading can't save this plodding, pointless bore of a book. If it were possible to give negative stars, I would. Most of the book consists of Mary complaining about something or another (shut up already!). No sleuthing or detective work every really takes place (once she looks around someone’s room), Holmes does absolutely nothing except play violin. All the drama is confined to a few paragraphs at the end – which are not worth wading through all the pointless detail to get to.

A letdown

I've totally enjoyed the entire series and of course was eagerly awaiting the latest entry. In my opinion this story was far inferior to the others - I have no problem with reading about the film industry but it was a shallow and thin plot, at times silly without being amusing, and definitely not enough Holmes. Maybe it's just an earnest attempt at feminism but often Mary's comments about Holmes make it difficult to understand why she bothers. I find it offputting and sometimes downright unpleasant and distracting. As always Jenny Sterlin does a competent job in her narration. I won't give up on the series yet but this one was slim pickings indeed.

Not LRK's best work.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

What I hope happened here is that her publisher put a gun to Laurie R King's head and told her she had to write a book right away, and this is what they got. I have really enjoyed the Mary Russell series, but "Pirate King" is a mess. I am hoping "Garment of Shadows" gets her back to what the series was in its earlier iterations.

Would you ever listen to anything by Laurie R. King again?

I remain a loyal Laurie R King fan, but that doesn't mean that I automatically like everything she does. Anyone can have a bad day, and this, apparently, was hers.

What does Jenny Sterlin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jenny Sterlin has made King's characters come alive. I love listening to her. She's terrific. In this case, however, the material she has to work with is sub par and not even her considerable skills are enough to make it listenable.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Jenny Sterlin is a marvelous reader. What a gift!