If you were forced to sail with pirates . . . captured and tried for piracy . . . and sentenced to hang . . . would you trade your body to the crew of the "Flying Dutchman" in order to save your soul? Ricky did. Some dead men DO tell tales. And there is stolen treasure in this pirate story.

★ 2018 Directors' Choice Award Winner Finalist ★

Last winter Ricky Bradshaw was another gangly freshman hoping to fit in -- or at least not get picked on -- and maybe catch the attention of Becky Nance, a girl in his biology class. Except sometimes Ricky "zones out" in class because he has absence seizures. If you've never heard of absence seizures, that's okay. A lot of people haven't. Ricky's teachers are a lot of those people.

And that's what happened to Ricky last Christmas Eve: he had an episode and ended up in pirate land. When Dead Calm, Bone Dry begins, Ricky is on his way to be tried for piracy. In the ship's brig he is about to learn that some things are worse than being unpopular in high school. MUCH worse. Like sailing to . . . Well, we best let Ricky tell the account. It is his story, after all.

Christian Books for Tweens and Teens - review

"In this sequel to Curse of the Black Avenger, high school freshman Ricky Bradshaw has evaded Captain LaFoote, only to land in the brig. Now he faces the hangman's noose at the hands of British authorities. The charge? Piracy. His fellow inmate, the mysterious William Shakespeare, seems to give good advice . . . And yet after the commodore's daughter, Rebecca, denounces Ricky before the tribunal, Ricky barely escapes by cliff diving, only to awaken in another, if possible darker dream-if it is a dream. Still Ricky has one more chance to save a crew of orphaned children, win Rebecca's heart, and find his deceased father before it's too late.

"This is a book boys will read; loaded with speculative fantasy, dry humor, a strong dose of violence and with a sprinkling of romance. Dead Calm, Bone Dry, continues Rickie's journey through mayhem and betrayals and what becomes more and more like a living hell. His quest mirrors his struggle to forgive, and with life and death and heaven and hell in the balance, Ricky must choose.

"The Caribbean Chronicles is one of those series were the first book seems incomprehensible without the second. But for those who will soldier through, there's great entertainment value, along with a powerful and uplifting spiritual message."

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