The Redemption by M.L. Tyndall

The Redemption

by

M.L. Tyndall

(Barbour 2006) 

I'm always on the look-out for a good pirate story.

M.L. Tyndall delivered a great pirate turned privateer novel. While the action scenes and character interactions in The Redemption kept me riveted, there were pros and cons to the book.

The book had well developed characters, ones that grew and changed over the course of the story. The plot allowed for a little leeway in how a pirate could be a Christian. He became a privateer hired to root out the enemy ships and "relieve" them of their cargo. This made sense for the mid 1600's when Britain and Spain were at war and Jamaica was a crossroads for them in the Caribbean.

Historical facts were evident. The setting strong and detailed. The fights scenes, although not as detailed as I would have liked, were not glossed over and watered down.

The things that bothered me most about the story were these: the heavy handedness of Scripture. I wished for a more natural occurrence. The Stockholm-type syndrome developed by Charlisse over Merrick seemed too contrived. The immediate reversal of Edward without anything leading up to his salvation was too abrupt. A little bit of a tidying up at the end made the story seemed rushed. Some of the fighting was too watered down. There was one instance that had me scratching my head over whether or not the word would be considered cussing. I'm still debating on that point.

Overall, I really liked the story. I like how Merrick understood that even though he was a Christian, there were times when he had to kill to protect others. His fight against temptation and his old self was thoroughly developed and shown, showing that although he had changed, his past still presented a problem. Charlisse started off strong, capable, and even daring despite her small stature and her abusive past. Toward the end of the book her character became weaker and helpless. I missed the spunk and orneriness of her character from the beginning of the book.

This was a good pirate, or in this case privateer, novel. The oscillating emotions and actions of the characters kept them more human than sugar-coated characters in most other novels. 

***This review is of the 2006 edition. It has since been republished by Ransom Press in 2014 and I do not know if any content or wording had been changed.***