FLINT AND SILVER A Prequel to Treasure Island

"I'm no bloody pirate!" Englishman John Silver says when he’s asked to join an outlaw band at the start of this prequel, which explains how the TREASURE ISLAND character became a buccaneer captain. From the start, Tim Gregory makes words come alive—with his delivery of words like "jab" and "swish" even sounding like the noise of swordplay. An occasional actual sound effect furthers the feeling that listeners are sailing on the high seas. John Drake's reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's characters is no children's tale, though, since the story of Silver's "symbiotic relationship" with Joseph Flint involves lust, violence, and sadism, often described graphically. But it’s an intriguing yarn, made more so by Gregory's energetic reading. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]