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Captain in Calico cover art

Captain in Calico

By: George MacDonald Fraser
Narrated by: Mike Grady
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Summary

The first unpublished novel from the historical fiction legend George Macdonald Fraser, featuring the unscrupulous and brilliantly entertaining pirate Calico Jack Rackham.

New Providence, 1720s. When infamous pirate Captain 'Calico' Jack Rackham returns from the high seas to ask Governor Woodes Rogers for a royal pardon, the Governor sees his chance to put his own devious plans into action.

Their agreement sets off an adventure of betrayals, counterbetrayals, plots and escapes that see Rackham join forces with the scheming but seductively beautiful pirate Anne Bonney.

Captain in Calico is a wonderfully spirited and entertaining novel which will delight fans of George MacDonald Fraser. The unscrupulous Captain Rackham is pure pleasure and shows the author's early penchant - and flair - for writing scoundrels of the highest order.

©2015 George MacDonald Fraser (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

Praise for The Flashman Papers: "Politically incorrect, lascivious and fiendishly handsome, Flashman is the greatest." (Boris Johnson)
"Flashman is drop-dead funny, unputdownable story-telling, and much better history than anybody gets taught in schools." (Max Hastings)
"Flashman is one of the great characters of modern fiction; a rogue, a lover, and always an irresistible read." (Bernard Cornwell)
"Flashman, Sherlock Holmes, Toad of Toad Hall, Bertie Wooster. Any writer would give his eye-teeth to have created a character as good as those. GMF was one of the greats." (Conn Iggulden)

What listeners say about Captain in Calico

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Great stuff

What made the experience of listening to Captain in Calico the most enjoyable?

Easy to listen to and a rollicking adventure

Who was your favorite character and why?

Calico himself

What does Mike Grady bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He can "do" all the voices

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh in places but more usually I listened to this with a permanent grin.

Any additional comments?

As an unashamed fan of GMF I have been looking forward to this release for some time and I'm glad to say I have not been disappointed. You can see where Flashman springs from - the "hero" Calico Jack is an obvious fore-runner, and of course Fraser returned to the pirate world in Pyrates in which once again you see many similarities. Make no mistake, the book isn't perfect. It's not terribly long - I wonder if some recent editing has occurred - in which case it has been done very well. Some of the prose that is left is a tad naive, the action a bit obvious on occasion and a bit dated (the book was written in the 60s after all) but it is a right rattling good read and if published as a new novel nowadays would still pass muster. As an audiobook there is so much that depends on the narrator and I'm pleased to say that Mike Grady doesn't disappoint - he can "do" all the voices. As an overall package I am very pleased and listened to it in virtually 2 sittings.

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1 person found this helpful

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Disappointing.

Very rare of me not to finish a book but I just couldn't engage with this book. It was wooden storytelling and none of the characters appealed. Not quite sure why it was given the relatively high marks by previous reviews.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Adventure on the high seas!

If you could sum up Captain in Calico in three words, what would they be?

Pirates! Pirates! Pirates!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Calico Jack Racham. Such a rogue.

Any additional comments?

An unpublished novel from the creator of Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser, this might disappoint fans of Flashy but to anyone after a swashbuckling historical adventure this is certainly that. Mike Grady's narration is perfect.

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