L. A. Meyer – Wild Rover No More

93. Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by L. A. Meyer (2014)
Bloody Jack, Book 12

Read my review of book:
5. Mississippi Jack
6. My Bonny Light Horseman
7. Rapture of the Deep
8. The Wake of the Lorelei Lee
9. The Mark of the Golden Dragon
10. Viva Jacquelina!
11. Boston Jacky

Length: 368 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Started: 23 November 2014
Finished: 25 November 2014

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? The newest (and last; sadface!) Bloody Jack book!

You can’t drown a man
born for hanging, but Jacky
Faber’s not a man…

Summary: Jacky Faber is barely back in Boston for a day before she’s in trouble again – framed for treason by an old enemy. She takes off, barely ahead of her pursuers, leaving behind her friends, business associates, and erstwhile love Jaimy Fletcher. Her natural talent for acting (among other things) allows her to gain a position as a governess, and then when the authorities find her out, she goes undercover as a Russian tightrope walker in a circus. But although Jacky’s been wiggling her way out of trouble since she was twelve, her luck is bound to run out – and her last trip looks like it may end with a hangman’s noose.

Review: I’ve said a lot about why I like the Jacky Faber books (there are a lot of them, after all, so that’s a lot of reviews!) but in general, this one was no exception. It was fun, fast paced, with a strong (if probably a little anachronistic) heroine and a good sense of humor and a fast plot – all things that make for an enjoyable book. This book also had some of the foibles of the previous books – Jacky’s narrative tics that get old quickly; Jacky acting simultaneously too old and too young for her age; Jacky knowing everyone on three continents and running into them constantly (although substantially less of the last two in this book compared to previous ones). I also thought this book did a really nice job of wrapping things up, while still keeping things interesting. More to the point, it was obvious from the book cover that Jacky was eventually going to get captured, and I was fairly sure that Meyer wasn’t going to end the series with his irrepressible heroine actually getting hanged, but I couldn’t see how she was going to get out of it, and it was really nice to be kept guessing for as long as this book managed. So overall, a good end to a really fun series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: When I got this book from the library, the librarian told me that L.A. Meyer had just recently passed away, either shortly after (or possibly just before?) this book was published. That made reading kind of bittersweet; sad that there’s not going to be any more of Jacky’s adventures, but glad that this one did bring things to a satisfying close. Don’t start with this book, but if you’re a fan of historical fiction, nautical fiction, and sassy young adult narrators, this series is a lot of fun.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Other Reviews: Good Books and the Random Movie
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: My dearest Jacky, It is my fondest hope that this letter finds you in the highest of spirits and in the very pink of condition, you sweet little thing you.

Vocab: (see the whole list)

• p. 107: ““I’ll need a pint bottle of paregoric . . .”” – A camphorated tincture of opium, taken internally for the relief of diarrhea and intestinal pain.
  .
• p. 121: “I watch for a while, determining who is the head boy, and when there is a break in the action, I signal him over with my bumbershoot.” – An umbrella.
  .
• p. 208: ““Actually, I have been quite enjoying myself out here on the hustings, as it were, and have not been bitten by a single flea.”” – A platform on which candidates for Parliament formerly stood to address the electors.
  .

© 2014 Fyrefly’s Book Blog. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Fyrefly’s Book Blog or its RSS feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is being used without permission.

Advertisement