Review for Satan at the Helm



In 1721, Ned Loe leaves New England and its memories of his wife and children. A man of ungovernable temper, he takes to the ocean again as ship's rigger and quartermaster. Keil Hermann is a ship's carpenter stranded in Honduras. Making the best of his new life, he adopts a ready-made family while pursuing his craft onshore. When Ned Loe finally makes his move and turns pirate, he abducts Keil as his own ship's carpenter.

Ned glories in his power over life and death — of his crew and his victims. He seizes ships, men, and treasure, disposing of them with sadistic glee according to his whim. He assembles his ever-changing crew from volunteers and conscripts, forced into service for skills such as cook, minstrelsy, or carpentry. Meantime, Keil's common-law wife, Moira embarks on a desperate search to find her man.

Mr. Heffelfinger shows a strong grasp of all things nautical and the vagaries of the sea. His descriptive powers are superb, whether detailing a near-drowning in a log flume, a bar fight, a sea battle, rape, torture, or an emergency amputation.

This sea saga does have an episodic feel of battle after battle. It takes quite a while for the plot to knit itself together. However, Satan at the Helm is packed with action and with the agonizing uncertainty of sailing pirate-infested seas.

Jeanette Cottrell, Reviewer eBook Reviews Weekly http://www.ebook-reviews.net

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