REVIEW: The Pirate

The Pirate
Author: Harold Schechter

Grisly murders at sea. A crew hacked to death and thrown into the ocean. A sloop drifting unmanned into New York harbor with blood all over the decks. One man rowing to shore and walking away....

In 1860, the killings by Albert Hicks drew a lot of attention. His execution was attended by thousands, including P.T. Barnum. Hicks had led a life of violence, killing and robbing all over the world as he worked on various ships. He was caught when he signed on as a mate on the E.A. Johnson to harvest oysters on the Chesapeake and killed the other 3 members of the crew for the money on board. Author Harold Schechter uses newspaper accounts and court records to piece together the story of Albert Hicks (aka William Johnson), a pirate who was executed in 1860 on Bledloe's Island (now Liberty Island).

I'm a big fan of history and historic true crime tales.....I listen to many, many podcasts on the topic. So I knew I would enjoy listening to The Pirate, the first of six bloody tales in the Bloodlands Collection from Audible/Amazon Originals. I listened to the audiobook version of this story, narrated by Steven Weber. The audio is just under 1.5 hours, so it's an easy listening length. Weber reads at a nice, steady pace and his voice is easily understandable even with my hearing loss.

I enjoyed this story. The author presents the facts about the crime, the life of the murderer and the aftermath of his arrest and conviction in an interesting manner. It is a lot like listening to a documentary....so if true crime or history isn't really your bag, you might want to pass this collection by.

Listening to stories about crimes committed far in the past helps me put our present world in perspective. Today's society hasn't suddenly become a world of danger after peaceful times in the past.....the "good old days'' were just as violent and scary as what we face today. There just wasn't insta-news in those days....stories took awhile to get around. Investigations were completely low tech back then -- no DNA analysis, very little forensic knowledge above the very basic....and killers very often got away with their grisly crimes for quite some time before they were caught. Hicks led a life of horrific violence....until he made a mistake and got caught literally red handed. His execution was a public event with the atmosphere of a circus performance. That's almost as grisly as his crimes....

The Bloodlands Collection gathers six true crime stories from the past. Ranging from the 1860's up to 1949, the crimes are varied, but all grisly. Not for the faint of heart. Interesting tales for those who enjoy true crime stories. The kindle book versions use Kindle-In-Motion animation....some of the illustrations, photos and text moves or has slight animations. Kinda cool. I chose the audible version and listened to the story.

I'm enjoying these collections of Amazon Original content. There are several different story collections...horror short stories, global warming tales, true crime, missing persons, etc. I haven't liked all of the selections, but I've had fun trying them. I like having a shorter story to listen to....something I can finish quickly rather than investing 10-15 hours in an entire novel-length audio book.

All in all, so far Bloodlands is my favorite collection. I love the combo of history and true crime narrative!