Black Tarantula
Book 2 in the Bilge Rat: Pirate Adventurer Series
by Kevin C Smith
The nautical hero of this series, Echo, is an exceptional lad in all respects. He, with the assistance of three adopted elderly aunts, is further schooled in many valuable arts and skills. Included in this education is crucial knowledge of natural healing, including the use of lethal and dangerous substances such as Belladonna. He utilizes this special knowledge to solve a series of dilemmas and predicaments as they arise. Additionally, when it comes to naval warfare, our hero is schooled by wily sea dogs on the fine art of nautical combat including the essential mastery of ship cannons.
At the same time, a vicious and bloodthirsty new pirate threat arises in the form of the dreaded Black Tarantula, whose nefarious reputation and stories of abject cruelty and horror begin to spread throughout the region. Meanwhile, Echo is engaged in a battle of wits with the ship’s bullying First Mate. Only his superior intelligence and utmost cleverness will allow him daily survival as he prepares for the battle of his life against this nefarious foe.
More about Black Tarantula
Catastrophically, our hero’s vessel is eventually seized by a cutthroat band of pirates and Echo and crew are forced to “go on the account” or perish.
Having little choice, he and his crewmates experience the life of a pirate first-hand. As he becomes accustomed to his new career, the pirate captain ever jealous and suspicious of any potential rival, targets Echo for elimination.
Given this perilous situation, our hero must labor mightily to outwit and defeat this new adversary. With the assistance of potent natural substances, Echo manages to outwit the pirate villain. Given a void in leadership, the pirate crew vote Echo their new captain. With this elevation in status, he renames himself Captain William Bilge. Our hero then proceeds to reshape and retrain his new crew in the fine art of naval warfare including the development of novel and devastating weaponry.
While dealing with this training, Captain Bilge receives word that the Black Tarantula has invaded Saint Domingue and has taken a strong fancy to his true love, Rue. Failing to capture the lass, she eludes the odious reprobate. Aware of her dire predicament, Captain Bilge is forced to devise an immediate and imperative strategy to locate and save his endangered lover.
Reveiws for Black Tarantula by Kevin C Smith
Reader Reviews for the High Stakes Pirate Action YA Novel
Sneak Peak of Black Tarantula!
Read an excerpt from the YA Adventure novel by Kevin C Smith
The Battlegrounds of the Black Tarantula
Outstanding spaces and places in the second high seas adventure young adult novel
- Cap-Francis – St Domingue’s major city
- Monique La Montaine – Palais Le Monde’s owner and operator
- Rue La Montaine – Monique’s daughter, barmaid and Echo’s lover
- Babar Kismet (Lion) – Turkish Pirate
- Black Tarantula – Pirate Scourge of the Caribbean
- Angry George – Pirate storyteller
- Papa Legba – Voodou
- Loa Ding-Ding – Island mistreated mutt and Papa Legba’s familiar
- Adams Sisters:
- Gertrude- Naturalist and Healer
- Wilamina- Palm Reader
- Hortence- Aspiring stage actress
- Sugar Sally – Trollop and lover of Lion Babar
- Gene Fabrege (Catstalker Gene) – Miscreant and torturer of small animals
- Long Tall Willie – Dwarf seaman and knife expert
- Charlie Crowsfeet – Seaman and shipmate of Long Tall Willie
- Walter Gibbons (Pigsty) – Obese, lazy skedaddler
- Droopy Eyed Dick – Sailor who provides basic information on the Black Tarantula’s fortress
– English Merchantman
- Jedediah Potts (Handy) – Galley master and Echo’s friend and mentor
- Creeping Jeremy – Storyteller and shipmate
- Captain Samuel Conway -Amafata’s Captain
- Mr. Bass – Malevolent first mate
- Jemme Buttons (Grommet Jemme and Zombie Jemme) – Suspected Jonah, dullard and Echo’s friend
- Muttering Moses Hart – Shipmate and fife player
- Fighting John English – Shipmate and fiddle player
- Geovanni Perilli (Doc) – Shipboard physician
- Moses Hayes (Chips) – Shipboard carpenter
- Kingston – Island’s main city
- Fat Dog’s Pub – Renown Island pub
- Fat Dog – Pub’s Owner and operator of renown pub
- Gypsy Queen Zarina – Famous and powerful gypsy leader
- Bountiful Betty – Fat Dog’s fighting chimp
- Sorrowful Suzy – Fat Dog’s fighting chimp
- Sir Jonathan William Brisbane III – Island plantation owner, bully and master duelist
- Powder Monkey – Sir Jonathan’s Slave and cannon expert
- Captain Ronald Shuster Adams – Nephew of Adams sisters and commander of Jamaica’s Fort
- Charles Sergeant O’Toole – Cannon training instructor at Fort Charles
- Lieutenant Henry Hicks (Toeless) – Fort Charles Commander following Captain Adams
- Sergeant Dale Houndstooth – Captain Adams’ second-in-command but demoted in rank by Toeless Hicks
– French Possession
- Pointe-A-Pitre – Major city on French Isle of Guadeloupe
- Governor Louis LaCouturie – Greedy Governor of Guadeloupe
- Captain Jean Bernard LeMerde – Dishonored French naval officer in charge of Guadeloupe’s marine defenses
- Francois Rene Turbout – Plantation owner on nearby Isle, Marie-Gallant and Echo’s friend
- Lille Turbout – Rene’s wife
- Aimee Turbout – Rene’s sister
- Luc-a-Luc – Renown Island performer
– Small uninhabited cay off of French Isle, Martinque
- Tommy Boyle – Crewman on Amafata and murder victim on island
- Pighead – Heathen tribe’s chieftain
- Soufriere – fishing village on St Lucia
- Sharkface Topper – Owner and operator of island’s pub Hungry Shark
- Hurricane Jeffers – Evil hearted knave and soundrel who is the Black Tarantula’s First Mate
- William Echo Eden (Captain William Bilge and Bilge Rat) – Orphan, galley slave and narrator
- Toby Eden -Echo’s younger brother
- Arch Deacon Williamson Archibald (Old ghost and Uncle Arch) -Echo’s elderly uncle
- Scarf Rockingham – Vicious bully
- Slugger O’Toole – Owner and operator of Slugger’s Sports Emporium
– Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao
- Captain Ricardo Inez Viola – Spanish Captain of Man-O-War patrolling southern Caribbean
-
Amafata - English Merchantman
- Jedediah Potts (Handy) – Galley master and Echo’s friend and mentor
- Creeping Jeremy – Storyteller and shipmate
- Captain Samuel Conway -Amafata’s Captain
- Mr Bass – Malevolent first mate
- Jemme Buttons (Grommet Jemme and Zombie Jemme) – Suspected Jonah, dullard and Echo’s friend
- Muttering Moses Hart – Shipmate and fife player
- Fighting John English – Shipmate and fiddle player
- Geovanni Perilli (Doc) – Shipboard physician
- Moses Hayes (Chips) – Shipboard carpenter
-
Midnight Crow - Pirate Ship
- Rambling Dirk Shivvers – Pirate Captain
- Booby Bird Doole – Addled pirate crewman
- Danny Goldtooth
- Little Joe
- Penny Short – Pirate conspirators involved in Cursing Challenge
- Black Monk – Ghost story of cleric who was convicted of demonic worship
- One Eared Pete & Pig Snout Jones – Pirate Fight Night combatants
- Strumpet Janie – Trollop in love with One Eared Pete and Pig Snout Jones
- Rooster Bill – Monstrous sized pirate and Fight Night combatant
- Jumping Jimmy – Pirate storyteller aboard Midnight Crow
- Bowlegged Billy – Tortured victim in swamp ride tale
- Spanish Petey – Pox victim in pirate tale
- Crosseyed Mary – Poxed wench in pirate tale
- Tiger Eyes – African slave and son of tribal chieftain
- Scuttle the Hunchback – Rescued castaway and accomplished blacksmith
- South Seas Tan – Pirate mate and hand-to-hand fighting expert
- Rambling Dirk Shivvers – Pirate Captain