"Pieces of Eight: Piracy, Witchcraft and the Great Spirit of Colonial Cape Cod" by Joshua Blair Delaney

In 1715, life in the normally quiet Cape Cod town of Eastham is full of poor harvests, dead animals and fear of devilry. Reverend Treat urges the townsfolk to be vigilant for signs of witchcraft, so many warily eye young Maria Hallett because of the strange premonitions she receives.

Samuel Bellamy, an impoverished English sailor, arrives in Eastham by jumping overboard from a merchant ship to escape the frequent beatings given by the vicious captain. Bellamy comes to the colonies in search of opportunity, but he receives only suspicion from the nervous inhabitants of Eastham. And when he begins courting Maria Hallett, he makes matters worse for both of them. Bellamy hears about a shipwrecked Spanish treasure fleet off the coast of Florida. Leaving Maria behind, he sails south in search of the silver coins, Pieces of Eight, that are said to be strewn across the sea bottom – easy pickings in the clear, shallow water.  Two years later, Bellamy is the most successful pirate of the age and on his way back to Cape Cod in his flagship, the Whydah.   

John Julian, a native man, prays to the Great Spirit, Keihtanit, to destroy the English settlers. Most of his people have adopted the clothes, language and god of the newcomers, but Julian clings to the old ways. He follows the trail of the last wolf on Cape Cod. He is propelled by the belief that it is a messenger from the spirit world that will help him save the land he loves from the encroaching English.

This historical fiction novel is for anyone interested in Colonial American history.  It is meant to educate readers about that time period while providing them with a suspenseful tale of pirates, witches and natives. Jordan Rich of WBZ radio says, “if people are interested in - and they should be - pirates, witchcraft and colonial Cape Cod, they will love Pieces of Eight.”