Quick Take - The Dagger Quick by Brian Eames

The Dagger Quick, like it's title, is a bit of a quick read even at over 300 pages. That does not mean, however, that it's a great book. I wanted to like and really enjoy the story of Kitto, the clubfooted preteen who has a lot of smarts and ends up on a pirate ship with his uncle William. I wanted to like Van, the teenage ship hand with a deadly secret. And I wanted to actually like William Quick, the supposedly dangerous pirate who basically bullies his brother (Kitto's father) into helping him get his smuggled good and clear his name.

Unfortunately, the storytelling is either too active or too slow. The beginning does not provide nearly enough background making it feel like the author is holding out on the reader. The middle spends too much time trying to rescue Kitto's little brother Duck from a slave ship. And the end is much too short, apparently to leave room for the sequel that is teased in the glossary at the back.

What's left is a decent story about a boy becoming a man amid the trials and tribulations of sea life. The background characters never really get fleshed out enough and William Quick, the pirate, who should be an overwhelming presence in Kitto's journey pops up now and then, but is mostly absent and one dimensional. This leaves the overall story feeling flat. Though the action sequences are plenty daring and violent, the feel of the emotional scenes is underwhelming and predictable at best.

I'd say this is best enjoyed by readers who enjoy a good pirate story; but the age group is a bit confused since the violence is potentially a bit heavy for younger readers and the characters are a bit young for young adult readers. Probably best for upper elementary age.  Read at Your Own Risk.