My book review is... Moonfleet by J.Meade Falkner

Moonfleet is a pirate story about a boy called John Trenchard, who finds out about the Mohune vault under the old church after the flood made people think the Mohune spirits had come back.

He was sitting on a altar tomb when he noticed the flood had made cracks in the ground. He decided to search it that evening...

Later that night he got down the crack and found the Mohune vault which had been holding contraband. He soon had to hide and later found out that his grown-up friends (Ratsey, and Elzevir Block) had been running a cargo.(A cargo is illegally bringing items into the country to sell).

He finds out that a pirate called Black-beard had hidden a diamond. John and Elzevir hid in an old mine shaft and then disguised themselves as workers, after finding out that the diamond must be in the well-house at Windsor castle. They got the diamond but nearly got caught because the jailer betrayed them but luckily Elzevir knocked him down the well.

They got away by boat to Holland because they knew the best diamond buyers were there. When they got there they found out the best buyer was a well-known man by the name of Krispijn Aldobrand so they went to him. He looked at the diamond thoroughly but he soon said it was a glass fake because the liquor he had put it in didn't change colour. Although it was fake he said it was worth ten silver crowns, but Elzevir threw it out the window. Aldobrand was angered by this and told him he was a fool as it was worth ten silver crowns.

They later found out that the diamond was a real one and decided to go back there and sneak into the garden and grab the jewel. They climbed the wall into Aldobrands garden but soon found out that he had taken the diamond. John and Elzevir climbed a tree up to the room where Aldobrand kept the diamonds. John went in, tripping an alarm which sent slaves up overpowering them both.

They ended up at Ymeguen having to help build the castle after losing the trial at the court. John and Elzevir were split up, only seeing each other when changing areas. They were there for ten years and then were moved to another place. John got to see Elzevir again when they boarded the boat which would take them to their new location. As they neared their new location the boat started to sink and the crew gave them a chance to escape. Elzevir and John got to the hatch and saw that the boat was sinking near Moonfleet so Elzevir took control of the wheel and steered it to the shore.

People had noticed how bad the sea was, and the boat, so they lit a blue flare to help guide the boat back to shore. Soon they had hit the shore and the boat broke apart. Elzevir was the first to the rope which the people were holding to help them up but John got knocked back. If he didn't get to the rope in time the next wave would kill him. Elzevir went to help him and John got hold of the rope.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the why not? inn with Ratsey sat by him talking to someone else. He told John that Elzevir wasn't there and that he didn't save him last night. They went to the beach and saw that Elzevir had died because of the wave when he saved John. They took Elzevir back to the why not? inn and Ratsey left.

Soon after Grace (one of Johns childhood friends) came round and talked. She said the diamond would bring a curse with it and that it had indeed. The vicar (Mr Glennie) came round with a letter from Aldobrand saying that he was to leave all his treasure to a certain John Trenchard in Moonfleet. John was now rich so he decided to build new buildings and marry Grace.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure, pirates and the unknown. I thought it was brilliant because you never knew whats going to happen.