"The artifact is not something to play with; men from your world are looking for the Golden City through it, and if someone in my world holds it, your world will be their ambition."
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The Curse of the Golden City by L. D. Nascimento Trafford Publishing
book review by Peter M. Fitzpatrick
The rumors of a Golden City with untold riches awaiting whoever finds it has fired the desires of a number of ruthless men. Pirates that maraud the sea around the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean are in search of it, as is Captain Henry of a British ship named Sea Dragon. Military school kids vie for a chance of serving on the British garrison there by playing a ball game at the school. A young man named Leon and his best friend Gogh win. Leon wants to serve Britain, but Henry has other ideas. Leon and Gogh wind up fleeing the ship with a captured Pirate, Black Braids. Pursued through St. Martin, the two boys escape with yet another pirate, Captain Shaved Head. Fergus, a student in the losing team, yearns to go to St. Martins and best Leon there. What neither boy realizes is that a hidden hand has been guiding their respective pairings with pirate ships in hopes of having them do the dirty work in finding the final clues to the Golden City's whereabouts.
This is a very fast-moving plot with a lot of twists and turns that keeps the interest level high while the well-described battle scenes maintain a background of action. The characters are well developed, with Leon and Fergus being a focus for the reader to see how two young men thrust into this dangerous and bloody scenario fare, both internally and externally. The theme of greed and cutthroat competition for wealth is well-explored. Somewhere between alternative historical fiction and fantasy, the novel satisfies the imagination.