Robert Girardi (1) (1961–)

Nope. No can do. Madeleine's Ghost is not my thing. First person, slow as molasses, raunchy, depressing and dark. The writer can write, his characters are real, as are the settings, but they are not anyone I care to invest my life in. I did not get past page 50 other than some skimming because in spite of the fact that the other reviews said the pace picked up, it still looked to be raunchy and depressing. YMMV Found myself not wanting to read at all and that is always the final determiner for me.… (meer)

The Pirate's Daughter by Robert Girardi is a modern day pirate story — but not with Somali pirates, but pirates fashioning their lives on the piracy of the early days of the Caribbean. It's also about a bean counter at a crossroads in his life. In comes the mysterious Cricket Page who sweeps him off his feet.

Cricket Page offers Wilson Lander the chance to change his life. She convinces him to join her as a crewman on the Compound Interest, a high tech yacht. Of course the ship is a bounty all its own. And so, Wilson finds himself among pirates.

The book has its ups and downs — starting out slow to highlight the monotony of Wilsons, life I suppose. But it also makes for monotonous reading. The meeting with Cricket and their sailing trip is quirky and reminded me a bit of the relationship between Griffin and Sabine. Then, though, there's the pirate lair. On its introduction, its fantastical, hard to believe and something worth exploring. Unfortunately the book hits another lull.

So my one complaint with The Pirate's Daughter is it's pacing. There's not enough of an ebb and flow to the narrative. It's more of a couple traffic jams with completely empty freeways in between.… (meer)