Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West

This series just keeps getting more and more ridiculous with every book, and yet, it is SO much fun to listen to. The audio is incredible. Even so, this is my least favorite book in the series.

We see a lot of Jaimy in this book, and that turns out to be not such a good thing. He falls for a prepubescent hillbilly girl, he kills two men in cold blood -- sure, they tried to kill him first, and yes, they're very bad men, but still, this is repulsive behavior. Would an officer of His Majesty's Royal Navy stoop so low? Maybe so, but are we really expected to root for him? He is not a strong character, and he's definitely no match for Jacky. Too prissy, and obviously intent on putting an end to her adventures. Which, okay, might be a relief show more to readers at this point, but what a shame for Jacky.

Meanwhile, it seems that Jacky has her pick of every hot thing that crosses her path, male OR female! This is getting a little predictable! She's certainly charming, but this girl gets more marriage proposals in a year than most people do in a lifetime on average (probably. I can't prove that). When men aren't wooing her sweetly, they're tying her up and assaulting her somehow, which is just freaking me out at this point.

And while I don't think Jacky deserved to be tarred and feathered by a family of racist, repressed, slave-catching, bible-thumping nuts (boy, Mr. Meyer has a heavy hand sometimes), she deserved a hard smack to the head, hmm, at least once a chapter. As judgmental as she is, in this book, Jacky steals a boat, cons innocent people into buying watered down bourbon labeled as medicine, cheats on her boyfriend for like the seven hundredth time, shoots up a bunch of outlaws, and cheats at cards (which is only okay when she does it, FYI). Part of Jacky's appeal has always been her innate goodness, but I'm beginning to wonder...

Frankly, I wish this series had ended with Under the Jolly Roger. I do love Jacky, and I do want to see how this all ends, but I might not be able to do it if not for the audio, which again, is truly mind-blowing.

Here's hoping Jaimy either dies at sea or grows a pair before this is over. show less

Audiobook - When we last left Jacky, she had led her kidnapped classmates to safety and sunk the dread slaver Bloodhound. Upon arriving in Boston harbor, she is immediately captured by British sailors who are after the bounty that is still on her head. The quick thinking of her loyal friends gets her free, but now she must go on the lam, lest she be captured again.

Accompanied only by her trusty valet Higgins and her trusting second mate Jim, Jacky disappears (well, as close to "disappearing" as Jacky can ever get) into the wilds of 1806 America. Her plan is to acquire a ship (of course! Where would Jacky be without a ship??) and sail down the Allegheny River to the Ohio River, down the Ohio to the Mississippi River, and down the show more Mississippi to the great city of New Orleans. She gets there, of course, but not without a million adventures along the way.

Ah, Jacky. I fall more and more in love with her in every book. This is definitely the least realistic of the books so far, but who cares?? show less

I love this book so much.

Seriously, Mississippi Jack is easily my favorite of the six Bloody Jack books currently published. I just reread it as the seventh book, Rapture of the Deep, is due to be released soon, and I wanted to have the story-to-date fresh in mind. I hadn't read it since the first time through about two years ago, because of schoolwork and then graduation and job-hunting and a huge stack of to-be-reads, so this read-through was an absolute blast. So much fun.

Like the other books in the series, Mississippi Jack covers a range of genres - it's historical fiction with a heap of adventure, but also plenty of comedy, some action, and romance. This particular novel borrows heavily from Mark Twain's writings and, to me at show more least, seems to echo Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in several places.

The plot follows Jacky after her ordeal on the Bloodhound, as told in the fourth book. Just as she thinks she's to get back to Boston, she's arrested by her Royal Navy saviors in order to take her back to London for the reward. Naturally, she escapes, because that's what Jacky does, and she, Higgins, Katy Deere, and Jim Tanner head out West in an effort to avoid recapture. They travel down the Allegheny, Ohio, and finally the Mississippi rivers, picking up passengers, new members of Faber Shipping, Worldwide, and making friends along the way. They make enemies, too, of course, but Jacky always manages to come out on top.

One thing I liked about this book that the others don't have so much is that it also follows Jaimy's story. Usually, the reader doesn't really know what's going on with him until he pops up, but in Mississippi Jack, he's left the Navy (having been there when Jacky got arrested) and has gone to follow her and maybe catch up to her in some town along the way. He gets into adventures of his own (and is nearly killed several times over!), but he also gets lots of character development in the several chapters that follow his p.o.v.

Since this is a Bloody Jack novel and these books always turn things up to eleven, it's probably not surprising that Mike Fink gets a role. He's larger than life and absolutely fantastic, and maybe one of the best things of the early parts of the novel.

Now, there are problems with this book, I can't deny it, as much as I love it. There's plenty of anachronisms, most of them likely being a result of modern sensibilities getting mapped onto these historical characters. Quite likely, for a reader unfamiliar with the relevant history, these anachronisms would slide right by, but for other people, the fact that Jacky wears underpants in 1806 could be quite problematic (to be honest, whenever mentions of wardrobe come up, I can't help but wonder how familiar Meyer is with clothing from the period - it never seems to quite match what I know from my own reading and historical research).

Also, there are several Indian characters in the book who, while treated fairly decently I suppose, could come across as stereotyped. There's a cameo of Sacajawea, for example, that always has me rolling my eyes at how not-subtle it is, though she's never given that name. Jacky and two of her employees/guides (who are Shaw, I believe) also visit a village where there's a meeting of the Five Nations involving Tecumseh that was difficult for me to get past my willing suspension of disbelief. Those scenes themselves were interesting and funny and adventuresome, but the historicity and Jacky's managing to be there were a little much for me to take. But I suppose that's one of the things I like about the books, anyway — that Jacky does pop in and out of actual historic events.

Anyway, I love this book so much, even with the problems it has, and it's my favorite of the six I've read so far. But it can't be taken seriously and read as anything like historical fact or a representation of actual historical events or anything like that. I mean, Jacky's skippering a keelboat down the Mississippi River (a boat she conned Mike Fink out of!) and using it to run a three-part show - religious revival, medicine show, and music/dance act. It's fun and funny and Jacky is just as theatrical and melodramatic as ever. show less

Ooh I love this series! Jacky Faber is a spunky, honest, funny girl who just keeps getting into scrapes no matter how hard she tries to be "good." Throughout the series she's gone from ship's "boy" on a sailing ship, to adventures in a Boston girls' school, to being held captive on a slaving ship, to becoming a pirate captain of her own ship--and all the while she just wants to settle down with her own true love Jaimy, lieutenant in the British Navy. But things keep getting in the way! Now she's a fugitive from England, wanted for piracy, so she's off into the wilds of America on the Ohio River, trying to get down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. And Jaimy is trying to catch up to her! Great escapes, encounters with Indians, show more Captain Jack's Magic Elixir shows, and many more adventures await her and readers. Lots of fun. show less

Though I love Jacky like a sister, this was probably my least favorite book in the series so far (but I'm reading them in order, so there are plenty left). It was just a little bit too much. Too many crazy escapes. Too many crazy coincidences. Just too crazy to be as charming as the previous books. And I must say, when it comes to Jacky Faber, my crazy tolerance is pretty high. Higgins continues to be my second favorite character because he's the most reasonable character in Meyer's world of insanity.

What keeps me coming back to this series is the amazing audiobook narration. Katherine Kellgren sings and does a million voices and just makes it all so enjoyable. Bless you, Ms. Kellgren.

So now I'll complain a little via spoilers: I show more actually felt really angry at the author when Jaimy finally caught up to Jacky and she was naked in the arms of another man. That was just too terrible. I was so relieved that he took her back at the end of the book! I was also baffled when she got picked up by the tornado and carried off her boat. Do people really survive that kind of thing? show less

Summary: The notorious Jacky Faber, fresh from rescuing her classmates from the slaver ship Bloodhound, is taken into British custody to be tried for piracy. But no one has ever been able to hold Jacky in captivity for long, and soon she is out in the wilds of America, making her way to New Orleans via riverboat, facing danger from enemies old and new, with Jaimy, her fianceé, following her trail a few days behind.

Review: Rollicking good fun. Jacky is a fun narrator, even though she occasionally gets a little repetitive, and her adventures roll along at a good clip. This book felt a little long, and could have lost one or two of the adventures to tighten it up a bit, although there wasn't one particular part that I thought absolutely show more needed to go. Also, in the beginning, chapters from Jaimy's point of view are fairly frequent, but they disappear altogether at about the halfway point, which probably makes the story more exciting - Jaimy's better as a foil for Jacky than as a character in his own right - but also made the story feel a little unbalanced. This book would also probably have benefitted from rereading the first four recently - it's been a while since I've read them, and quite a few minor characters from the first ones resurface in this. These are all mostly quibbles, though... I read Bloody Jack books for some escapist pirate-y adventure with a sassy narrator, and they deliver that in fine form.

Recommendation: Not at all serious reading, but good solid fun. If you've read the other Bloody Jack books, this one is a worthy sequel, and if you haven't, don't start here - it might be enjoyable on its own merits but it's much more so knowing Jacky's history. show less

Description: The intrepid Jacky Faber, having once again eluded British authorities, heads west, hoping that no one will recognize her in the wilds of America. There she tricks the tall-tale hero Mike Fink out of his flatboat, equips it as a floating casino-showboat, and heads south to New Orleans, battling murderous bandits, British soldiers, and other scoundrels along the way. Will Jacky's carelessness and impulsive actions ultimately cause her beloved Jaimy to be left in her wake? Bold, daring, and downright fun, Jacky Faber proves once again that with resilience and can-do spirit, she can wiggle out of any scrape...well, almost.

Thoughts: This is probably my favorite Jacky Faber book so far. The cast of characters is really diverse show more and rich. (Be prepared for a couple of headache inducing chapters if listening to the audio. Kellgren really goes for it with Mike Fink.) It was nice to see so many scenes from Jaimy's adventures during the story especially since they were actual adventures instead of just letters pining for Jacky.

The last several chapters contained a bit too many plot developments and scenes of action for my liking, but that wasn't enough to spoil the rest for me.

Rating: 4

Liked: 4
Plot: 4
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5
Audio: 4.5

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