“This adventure story offers a convincing, detailed, occasionally gruesome portrayal of life at sea 200 years ago.”
— Booklist
“The excellent writing evokes the dire conditions of the era through realistic dialogue, sailor’s jargon, and marine folklore. Even the minor characters are well-defined so that when the action comes—and it does so at breakneck speed—readers will commiserate and celebrate with Tom and his crew as they using cunning and humor to conquer their foes.”
— Voya
“Rich language laced with inventive similes may occasionally halt this forward movement, but through it all marches Lawrence’s host of colorful characters, including Tom’s loyal sidekick Midgely and the villainous Mr. Goodfellow, whose evil continues to drive the action. But Lawrence is more than a macabre storyteller with a bagful of Dickensian personalities to flesh out his sinuous plot. The final twist, a deeply moral one, concerns how Tom becomes a young man freed from the tortuous path that has consumed others and threatens to consume him.”
— The Horn Book Magazine