Mortis meets his young lover Rayna one night by the sea. Although their families have forbidden them to be together, they are in love and cannot resist meeting secretly. Rayna is excited on this specific night. She has made a discovery, an ancient temple hidden within a cave. She feels this is a perfect liaison spot. They can be alone, make love upon the marble altar, and not fear discovery by their parents.

As they make love, the god Poseidon speaks to them. He has chosen them to be protectors of the sea and has given them all the powers needed to do so including eternal life. They are to build a great ship using the gold in a hidden compartment. The couple do his bidding, becoming pirates for the good of the environment.

Pirates reads like an ancient myth. It is a historical narrative with no exploration of the characters' emotions or motivation. The story is quite detailed, spans centuries, and is written in a mixture of old and new language. There are minor romance subplots but without the emotional connection readers find in romance novels. All this adds complexity to a 35 page work. However, fans or scholars of mythology will find Pirates interesting.

Reviewed by: Kimber