The Legend of Gasparilla and His Treasure by Carolyn Arnold

My Rating: 4 Stars



Date finished: 21/06/2020




Date Published: 22/06/2020






Synopsis from Goodreads: 


The beam of his flashlight bounces off the walls but does little to brighten the hidden room he just found. In the corner is a centuries-old desk. His heart hammering, he walks over to it and opens the top drawer. What he finds inside will change his future—and the world’s—forever.
 
For centuries, the existence of Spanish pirate José Gaspar has been relegated to legend, but archaeologist and adventurer Matthew Connor and his two best friends may have just found reason to believe the buccaneer truly existed. They’re in Washington, DC, to mark the opening of an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History when a mysterious stranger turns up claiming he may hold the key to the mythical pirate’s treasure and invites them to join in his quest to find it.
 
Rumored to have sailed and plundered the Gulf of Mexico and the Spanish Main during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Gaspar would have amassed a vast fortune. But with only the stranger’s word and a token of proof, Matthew is intrigued but not sold—until it becomes personal. There’s an interested third party, and they’re willing to kill for the pirate’s bounty.
 
What ensues is a globe-trotting adventure that will take Matthew and his friends across the world and back again. Danger lurks around every corner as does betrayal, suspicion, and murder. Can anyone be trusted, and will they survive long enough to find out?


My review: 

Before I start my review, I would like to say thank you for the publisher, Hibbert and Stiles for sending me an advanced copy of this book. 

This is the third book in the Matthew Connor series; an action packed novel following the myth of Spanish pirate Jose Gaspar, or is it? I have read all three books in the Connor series and each one has kept my expectations high. Arnold is a fantastic writer and I have read a large quantity of her crime novels. The Conner series just goes to show that Arnold can put her hand at another type of genre and still keep the same level of writing, action and suspense. 

The novel picks up where we left off and follows archaeologist Matthew Connor attending an exhibition to promote his book series which catalogues his adventures. Following the adventure, Connor meets Professor Mel Wolf and eventually agrees to a new adventure; the search for Gasparilla's treasure. Following on from this, the book follows the view points of several characters including those from the previous book and some new characters such as Daniel. We get some back story of the characters whilst also following the adventure. I enjoy reading a bit of back story of characters as I feel this really creates some extra atmosphere to the novel. 

What I also really enjoy about Arnold's writing is that she really does her research. There was lots of twists and turns throughout and the overall book really kept me hooked. It was another great, fast paced page turner of a book. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series and I hope that Arnold really keeps up the level of action and expectation. I would also recommend that you read the other books in this series and not just pick this one up straight off. The novel does have flashbacks between the other novels. But it is definitely worth the wait and time to read all books in the series; you won't be disappointed! 

Happy reading :) 


0 comments:

Post a Comment