When an Oxford Professor stumbles upon an old naval Captain’s log, he unwittingly discovers what many scholars now agree is one of the greatest maritime adventures in history.

In 1821, Captain Fintan McAdam set sail from London, solo, in search of adventure. During his journey, he discovered incredible new worlds and interacted with their amazing inhabitants. They forced him to confront his enemies within, learning much about himself.

Captain Rum, as told in McAdam’s own words through his journal, is a tale of discovery, despair and delight. It will keep you enthralled through many a stormy night.

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book is about Captain Fintan McAdam, the son of a ship-maker who has recently purchased his own vessel in the hopes of escaping England. McAdam has been on the run for a few years now, after his escape from prison in London. He tries to spend only as much time as necessary in London before casting off, but he still ends up escaping the police only in the nick of time. While McAdam was using his vessel to permanently escape the police, he was also trying to escape the memories of his past. He lost his wife in a tragic accident and the images of that day still haunt him daily. McAdam hopes that some time alone at sea will take him away from all the triggering events for these awful visions.
While at sea McAdam has multiple points where he barely survives. He lives through a typhoon, a severely damaged ship, near starvation, and an encounter with a primitive tribe on some remote island. Through most of the story McAdam is aided by his bird friend, Bubo, who he discovers floating on debris after the typhoon and nurtures back to health.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It was very different and had a lot of interesting points to it, including McAdam’s experiences on both Bird Rock and Boot Island and his experience with training Bubo, who turned out to be a very intelligent bird. I found myself reminded at certain points of a recent read for me, The Island of Dr. Moreau, only because the reader sometimes wonders if the fantastical happenings are real or just the figment of a hysterical sailor’s imagination from being lost at sea. There is where the similarity ends though since I didn’t find Captain Rum to be at all dark or sinister. The story was charming and while there were a couple of slow points for me the story was engaging and kept my interest throughout. I was especially interested in Bubo the bird, I found it fascinating that a bird could be so well trained. While this bok isn’t one that I would normally have picked up on my own, it would definitely appeal more to readers who enjoy maritime novels, especially historical ones.

The bottom line: I thought this book was very interesting! While this wasn’t something I normally would have picked up on my own, this was a really interesting story and I would recommend it, especially to those who enjoy historical maritime novels.

 

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