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Helen Hollick
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Gallows Wake: Capt. Jesamiah Acorne Voyage 6 Kindle Edition

by Helen Hollick (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
'Hollick is known for her highly entertaining pirate tales that combine spellbinding storytelling with finely researched nautical history. Gallows Wake delivers abundantly on that promise. Readers will discover delightful fun amid vividly portrayed life during the golden age of piracy." Historical Novel Society Review

CHILL WITH A BOOK Premier Award : HFC Book of the Year 2022 Bronze Award : INDIE B.R.A.G Honoree winner

Where the past haunts the future...
Damage to her mast means Sea Witch has to be repaired, but the nearest shipyard is at Gibraltar. Unfortunately for Captain Jesamiah Acorne, several men he does not want to meet are also there, among them, Captain Edward Vernon of the Royal Navy, who would rather see Jesamiah hang.

Then there is the spy, Richie Tearle, and manipulative Ascham Doone who has dubious plans of his own. Plans that involve Jesamiah, who, beyond unravelling the puzzle of a dead person who may not be dead, has a priority concern regarding the wellbeing of his pregnant wife, the white witch, Tiola.

Forced to sail to England without Jesamiah, Tiola must keep herself and others close to her safe, but memories of the past, and the shadow of the gallows haunt her. Dreams disturb her, like a discordant lament at a wake.
But is this the past calling, or the future?

Praise for Helen Hollick’s Sea Witch Voyages
"A wonderful swashbuckler of a read. Fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean will love this to pieces of eight!"
Elizabeth Chadwick

"Helen Hollick has it all. She tells a great story, gets her history right, and writes consistently readable books!"
Bernard Cornwell

"Hollick’s writing is crisp and clear, and her ear for dialogue and ability to reveal character in a few brief sentences is enviable. While several of the characters in Gallows Wake have returned from previous books, I felt no need to have read those books to understand them. The paranormal side of the story—Tiola is a white witch, with powers of precognition and more, and one of the characters is not quite human—blends with the story beautifully, handled so matter-of-factly. This is simply Jesamiah’s reality, and he accepts it, as does the reader."
author Marian L. Thorpe

"The derring-do of vintage Hollywood. Hugely entertaining , exciting, uncomplicated fun."
author M.J. Logue

“A stylish blend of mystery, betrayal, intrigue, smuggling, murder, love, sex, Barbary pirates, and mysticism – all neatly wrapped in a spirited sea tale.”
Quarterdeck

"A great read that leaves this reader smelling tar and brine, and somewhat unsteady on their feet after spending time aboard with Captain Acorne. Helen Hollick has filled her story with appropriate nautical and pirate talk, exciting fight scenes, intrigue and deception, a bit of magic and romance, and enormous historical detail to ground the plot and characters. From the first words to the last, this is a most satisfying read"

"Hollick's forte is her ebullient imagination. Pirates of the Caribbean - but better. You walk with a rolling gait after a voyage aboard the Sea Witch."

“A story populated with fictional characters that bring the eighteenth century to life – A pirate adventure you won’t forget.” Cindy Vallar Pirates & Privateers

(This title contains adult language and some violence)
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    September 28, 2022
  5. File size
    4.7 MB
  6. Page Flip
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  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BG67WFTW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Taw River Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 28, 2022
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.7 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1739937157
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

About the author

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Helen Hollick

Helen Hollick

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Hello, welcome to my Amazon Author Page. I am Helen Hollick a USA Today bestselling author. You can find my website (which has all my other links) by searching for Helen Hollick. Thank you so much if you were kind enough to click the 'follow' button above. Your support is very much appreciated.

Please do consider leaving a review or comment for any or all of my books.

ABOUT HELEN HOLLICK

Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fiction and history blend together.

Her historical fiction spans a variety of periods, with a particular focus on the ‘Dark Ages’ and the Early Medieval period. Works like The Pendragon's Banner series offer vivid portrayals of both historical events and the fantastical elements that shape them. Her gift lies in her ability to bring historical figures and settings to life, while in her Sea Witch Voyages, she subtly weaves in elements of magic, myth, and hauntings, creating an immersive experience that transports readers to a time when the people of the past might very well walk among the living.

In addition to her historical fiction, Helen has written several short stories, further exploring themes of historical adventure or the supernatural with her signature style.

Whether dealing with the echoes of the past or the weight of lost souls, her stories are as compelling as they are convincing. Through her work, she invites readers into a world where the past never truly lets us go.

Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon.

Helen, husband Ron and daughter Kathy moved from London to Devon in January 2013 after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden and orchard, fending off the geese, helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework...

'Lege Feliciter' (read happily)

Helen

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
15 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book wonderfully entertaining. The plot receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as a novel by a master storyteller.

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Entertainment valuePlot
4 customers mention "Entertainment value"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book wonderfully entertaining, with one describing it as a rollicking good read.

"...Ms Hollick spins a fast and entertaining tale. Tensions rise. My nails disappear round chapter twenty...." Read more

"...I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic yarn, as thrilling and charming as Jesamiah himself. Highly recommend for seafarers and landlubbers alike." Read more

"...This book is as fun as the first one. I couldn't put it down and read it one day. I was disappointed Tiola called Jesamiah "lovver" only once...." Read more

"...Voyage Six of the Sea Witch is a rollicking good read, and I'm already on-board for Voyage Seven." Read more

3 customers mention "Plot"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of the book, with one describing it as a novel by a master storyteller that is immersive.

"...through Gallows Wake in a couple of excursions because the book is so immersive, I couldn’t bear to leave. Fix dinner? Not now. Walk the dog?..." Read more

"...dialect with a few lusty seaman’s curses thrown in; all sparsely interlaced into the story so as not to become annoying...." Read more

"...fey Hollick unleashes within a historically realistic setting and plausible plot...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Anna B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully entertaining
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I have been waiting a loooong time to get my hands on the next instalment of Helen Hollick’s excellent series featuring pirate Jesamiah Acorne and his wife, white witch Tiola.

    So it was with very high expectations I settled down to disappear into the past, more specifically 1719, accompanied by dashing, temperamental and resourceful Jesamiah and the just as resourceful but substantially quieter Tiola.

    The story starts off in Gibraltar, where Jesamiah Acorne has just been informed his ship, Sea Witch, is in serious need of repairs due to rot. It doesn’t take long for Ms Hollick to have erased any sense of the here and now, so stuck am I on the steep streets of The Rock, complete with inns and ships, thriving businesses, people from all walks of life—and the very, very nasty Ascham Doone.

    A good yarn requires a good villain—well, a bad villain—and Doone fits the bill perfectly. Manipulative, self-serving and entirely without conscience, it is evident something is seriously wrong with Doone—likely his parents dropped him one too many times on his head when he was little—so when he blackmails Jesamiah into undertaking a task for him, this reader tries desperately to tell my favourite pirate to say “no”. Except Jesamiah can’t, especially as he has a pregnant wife to keep safe.

    So, against the whispered protests of his gut, Jesamiah escorts Tiola aboard a ship that is to carry her back to safety in England—accompanied by Doone, no less. With his wife safely on her way home, Jesamiah has no intention of completing the task Doone has lumbered him with. But Doone is wily, and he has an accomplice in Richie Tearle, which is how Jesamiah finds himself the very reluctant guest of Royal Navy captain Edward Vernon.

    Ms Hollick spins a fast and entertaining tale. Tensions rise. My nails disappear round chapter twenty. My tea has long gone cold, and I have a cramp in my calf, but I just can’t stop reading, all of me full of foreboding when Ascham Doone and Tiola begin the last stage of the journey back home.

    As always, Ms Hollick endeavours to transport her readers not only to the past, but also to the life aboard an 18th century ship. Casually, she inserts little details, be it the inedible bread that costs Jesamiah a tooth, the gory details of battle at sea, the descriptions of sails and cabins, of sailors clambering aloft to manage sails.

    Other than her protagonists, Ms Hollick presents us with a broad cast of characters, some of them likeable, some acutely dislikeable (Jed Garrick, I say. Or Doone ) Some are utterly entrancing, like Mahad’un, this cheroot-loving creature that clearly isn’t human. It is testament to Ms Hollick’s capacity to spin a story that the paranormal elements come across as completely normal.

    I close Gallows Wake with a groan. Why? Because now I will have to begin waiting for the next book. I hope Ms Hollick will write really, really fast, and if she needs some help in how to dispatch Ascham Doone I am more than willing to help. Except I suspect Jesamiah Acorne has his own ideas when it comes to dealing with that pond scum.
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  • HF Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer Magic
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Excuse me while I find my land legs, for I have just disembarked from The Sea Witch and an enthralling adventure with the swashbuckler Jesamiah Acorne and his beautiful and mystical wife, Tiola. I literally plunged through Gallows Wake in a couple of excursions because the book is so immersive, I couldn’t bear to leave. Fix dinner? Not now. Walk the dog? Ok, but make it quick. I’ve read several of Ms Hollick’s Jesamiah Acorne books and enjoyed them tremendously. This one, however, took me by the neck and dunked me under. The creaking of the ship sailing under a starlit sky. The tang of brine and tar. Pirates, sword fights, haunting memories. And the intense relationship between Jesamiah and Tiola that bound a rope around my heart and wouldn’t let go.
    Ms Hollick’s fluid dialogue and historical detail crackles with tension and authenticity. And if that isn’t enough, she disarmingly entwines an element of the paranormal into her story, creating moments of sheer magic which are as believable to us as they are to her characters. After all, we are in the 18th century, and who’s to tell what’s enchantment and what’s reality.
    There is no need to have read other tales in this collection to enjoy Gallows Wake, for such is the expert writing of Ms Hollick that the characters introduce themselves within the fast-paced plot, and those who are repeat performers are welcome story navigators. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic yarn, as thrilling and charming as Jesamiah himself. Highly recommend for seafarers and landlubbers alike.
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  • Derek
    5.0 out of 5 stars Might be the best in the series
    Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Having read all six books in the series, my favorites were the first three books, with the first edging out the other two. The fourth and fifth books were not as enjoyable for me. This book is as fun as the first one. I couldn't put it down and read it one day. I was disappointed Tiola called Jesamiah "lovver" only once. That needs to be increased in the next book.

    In the previous books Jesamiah and Tiola seemed at odds, and the last book had me wondering how deep their love was. This book makes it clear they love each other. Jesamiah kept his pants on when around other women and Tiola didn't dance seductively with other men. I hope these two characters grow and become more of a team like Claire and Jamie in the Outlander series.

    Characters from previous books make an appearance, but I acutally liked them this time, which was nice.

    In a classic Saturday Night Live skit, Christopher Walken says, "I gotta have more cowbell!"

    Well, I gotta have more Jesamiah and Tiola.
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  • Inge H. Borg
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel by a Master Storyteller.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    The right settings, the correct regional dialect with a few lusty seaman’s curses thrown in; all sparsely interlaced into the story so as not to become annoying. Transporting readers seamlessly back in history is tough to achieve. Hollick excels in it. As a sailing enthusiast, I was amazed about her knowledge of old sailing ships, the often deplorable conditions the crew labored under (achieved by tedious research and double checking the facts).

    And then, there was all that breath-sucking adventure of the characters we have come to know and love from the previous books. After about 80%, I slowed down –didn’t want the book to end–especially with Jesamiah and Tiola in mortal danger. Will they survive?

    I did finish it – but my lips are sealed. You’ll just have to find out for yourself; you’ll be glad you did.
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  • lscollison
    5.0 out of 5 stars Behind every good pirate is a witch
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Jesamiah is faced with the consequences of his past and Tiola is carrying the future within. In Gallows Wake multiple lives are at stake. I love the characters -- strong anti-heroes all -- and the bit of fey Hollick unleashes within a historically realistic setting and plausible plot. Voyage Six of the Sea Witch is a rollicking good read, and I'm already on-board for Voyage Seven.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Alison Morton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Give up sleep now!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    A Sea Witch voyage is always a pleasure to look forward to, but this one is a real cracker. And like the waves on the sea, just as you are getting over the roll of last high and low incident, another crashes into you.
    Hollick’s ingenuity and ability to pile on the pressure may bring about not mere gasps, but actual stopping of breath.

    Apart from the pace, the sheer level of atmosphere and period detail shines through. And she writes a good fight, too! Betrayal vies with noble intent, love struggles with doing the right thing, while courage never fails. But the author writes the time as it was with fear of witchcraft, mob movements, casual brutality and constant danger at sea. Exhilarating as adventures are, death is all too present and injury often means a descent into poverty, starvation and a miserable end. This is not the 21st century.

    But of course, it’s the people who count. Jesamiah is his usual direct self - very much a man of his century - and one who does not know the word ‘shirk’. He’s not always polite ;-) but goodness, you would want him on your side! Tiola, haunted by the past is nevertheless practical, loving and courageous. She needs to be. And I was delighted to meet an intriguing character from the past again…

    Even if you haven’t read any other books in the series (why not?) go and get this one. Highly recommended. Now, when’s the next one out?
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  • cb
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait!
    Reviewed in Canada on November 21, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Huzzah!
    I'm a huge fan of the Sea Witch series, have read every adventure of Captain Jes and Tiola, and I've been waiting impatiently for the latest instalment--it was worth the wait!
    Once more Captain Jesamiah and his wife, White Witch Tiola, have to battle the forces of evil that are determined to tear them down, but this time, Tiola can't use her power. She is as vulnerable as any human woman and her enemies have chosen their moment for revenge. Meanwhile, Jes is fighting for his own survival in what should have been a quick mission to Spain. Will he return in time to save Tiola? No spoilers.
    Gallows Wake offers heartbreaking moments and surprising twists that left me gasping. Vivid characters, vivid storytelling. I loved how it all came together into a satisfying ending. Can't wait until the next Sea Witch story!
    Warmly recommended with a resounding 5 stars!
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