Avast, my hearties, for here be pirates! Inspired by Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Silver: My Own Tale As Written by Me with a Goodly Amount of Murder is the story of the infamous Long John Silver in his own bloodthirsty, treasure-hungry words: how he came to be the scourge of the northern and southern seas, from beggar boy to pirate captain.
As the novel opens, an elderly and ill Silver has been captured and is being taken back to England to be hung for all his dastardly deeds. He has asked for and been given parchment and ink and is setting forth his true history and, since he is gold-obsessed, he also recounts his lifelong quest for the greatest treasure of all. He can’t help himself: he is brutal, bloodthirsty and ruthless, but he is also a braggart and a storyteller and can keep his secrets no longer.
Silver begins at his beginning, an orphan in Bristol, England, who is sold by his tavern-keeper employer to the pirate Black John for a few paltry coins. Silver grows up on Black John’s ship, the Linda Maria, and soon finds his calling as a pirate. He loves the ship, speaking of her in terms of adoration usually reserved for beautiful women, and he loves piracy, especially the looting and killing portions. In fact, this is Silver's biggest issue with Black John: the captain just doesn’t scuttle enough ships.
As time goes on, Silver leads a mutiny and takes the Linda Maria for his own, and then the killing really kicks into high gear. The crew is as loyal to him as pirates can be for he makes them very, very rich. But very, very rich is just not enough for Long John Silver. One of his shipmates, taken on board during Black John’s tenure, is young Edward who has in his possession a family Bible. Hidden in the Bible’s pages are ciphers and clues leading to the greatest of all treasures. Edward shows the puzzles to Silver who is quickly intrigued, and they spend the greater part of their outlaw lives traversing the seas, hunting the treasure.
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