Cover Image: King Daniel

King Daniel

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this book by Susan Wolf Johnson. It is the story of a Tampa blue blood family and it covers generations. Secrets follow this Westcott family from the 1900's on, and we learn about how things have been covered up all the way off.

The annual Gasparilla celebration is a tradition that goes way back, and this year Daniel is crowned Gasparilla King, which is a big deal. The whole town closes up for the day and all the citizens get together, they crown a King and Queen, and then the band plays at the Tampa Yacht Club despite the blazing heat.

This year the pirates and their ladies eagerly await Daniel's arrival, but he does not show up. and by the next day the people know something is not right-Daniel is nowhere to be found. On top of this, his ship is gone from the harbor.

While all this is going on other members of the same family, are going through their own problems and we see that buried in the secrets of this family is something so terrible, and has not been brought out into the light, secrets that have ruined his daughter's existence from the age of 13.

When his daughter's children come back to the house, they are all adults and 2 diaries are found on the porch that has the power to destroy the Westcott Family, their good name and standing.

The plot is so good, I loved all of the characters and I would love to read a sequel of this book. The book is well written, all of the characters play their own important part, and I loved reading about generations in the same family. The end of the book is really good.

I gave this book 5 stars and am going to be more by this author.

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Welcome to Tampa! The town’s annual festival of Gasparilla is ongoing. The band is playing, the heat is sizzling, the people are enjoying themselves and all are awaiting the arrival of the newly crowned king, Daniel Westcott. But Daniel never shows. The people are confused, and mildly concerned, but no one says anything. Daniel’s disappearance is a mystery, and his family debates whether to involve the police or not. The Westcott’s are a family of prestige, they fear what revealing Daniel missing will do them in the eyes of the people. Enter here Daniel’s granddaughter, Becca. Becca has gotten herself into a bit of trouble. She needs money. She’s counting on her grandfather to be there so that she can ask him for what she needs, but she learns that he’s missing. Her grandmother tries to play it down, but others around her let her know that it’s more than that he’s just “out.” He’s missing and secrets are soon to start coming to the surface when some mysterious diaries are left for Becca to find. As she reads them she learns more about the history of her family and those around them. As the mystery of her missing grandfather ebbs and flows like the tide, the truth will soon come to the surface, but it will bring tragedy with it.
King Daniel: Gasparilla King of the Pirates by Susan Wolf Johnson is an engaging historical fiction novel. This is the first book by this author that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The secrets and mysteries surrounding this family are very engaging and interesting. They are blue-blood family, but all is not well with them. The mystery of Daniel’s disappearance drives the story, but it is not the sole focus of the story either. I like that the story branches off here and there but that it all comes back to the main story. The story focuses a lot on Becca as well, since she is the one who is given the diaries. Becca and Natalie are two interesting characters. Natalie keeps secrets, but the things that she does she believes is for the best for her family. You can tell that something is broken in Natalie. It could be age, but I get the sense that she has been through things in her own life that have dynamically changed her. It seems to be a price the female characters pay since they are all similar in this fact. The dynamics of the various characters is engaging and will keep you engaged in the story.
There really isn’t anything that I don’t like about this book. While this story isn’t about pirates pirates (corsairs, looting, and sailing the high seas) this book is a good read. There are pirates, but they are drug runners mostly. I like that the author incorporates the war and the draft into this book as well. I will admit that there are some spelling errors and some grammatical errors here and there in this book, but none of them are so bad that they distract from the overall storyline.
I am rating this book 4 out of 5 stars. The story line flows really well, which I like. I was worried that it might stutter here and there, but the author does a fantastic job making the story flow seamlessly from one scene to another. You will feel like you are following along with the characters watching them as they go through the trials and situations that they each face. There are a few twists and some subtle surprises. I think that those who enjoy historical fiction will enjoy this book. It is insightful, engaging and even education with the author taking time to tell us about this interesting holiday celebrated by these people.

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