Product Description

AD 79, following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. Among the thousands of people huddled in refugee camps along the bay of Naples are Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan the Jewish boy, Nubia the African slave-girl, and Lupus the mute beggar boy. Their discovery that children are being kidnapped from the camps- among them the daughter of the powerful Publius Pollius Felix- leads them to solve the mystery of the pirates of Pompeii. A terrifically exciting and dramatic story and a brilliant picture of the aftermath of a great disaster.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30946 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

The Bookseller, 25 Jan 2002
'The Pirates of Pompeii' does not disappoint...

From the Publisher
The Roman world is reeling from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Volcanic ash covers the land, sunsets are blood-red and the sea gives up corpses of the dead. At a makeshift camp south of Pompeii, hundreds of refugees from the cities of Vesuvius try to come to terms with the disaster. When children begin to go missing, Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus investigate a powerful and charismatic man known as the Patron. A dangerous trail leads them to the caves and grottoes of Sorrento where they encounter pirates, slave-dealers and death.

From the Author
South of Pompeii, on the Cape of Sorrento, you will find an ancient but perfectly preserved Roman road running down to the sea. Follow it down through the ancient olive groves and suddenly you will come upon the site of a Roman villa built right on the coast. Although little remains today, you can see the villa was built on at least three levels. It enjoyed magnificent views of the hills of Sorrento and Vesuvius across the bay. As you wander over the ruins, you can easily imagine the baths, courtyards and inner gardens. But you don't have to imagine the secret cove with its hidden entrance: it's still there!

Customer Reviews

The Pirates of Pompeii
The Pirates of Pompeii is a great book. When I went on holiday to Spain I had to stay out of the sun for a bit, and reading ths book made me want to stay out of the sun for ages. It rocks!

The book is about the friends, who stay with a very rich man called Felix. Then they find out that somebody is kindapping children and Flavia , Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus set out to discover who!

I really enjoyed the third set of entertaining magic, the third Roman Mystery. If you read it, you'll want to read more!

AWESOME
An action, adventure story awesomely told.

As with Caroline Lawrence's other stories, I couldn't put the book down, and kept reading until the end.

I like this book so much because of the way the story is told. I felt as if I was a part of the excitement.

Set in ancient Rome, four children must discover who has been kidnapping children after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Suddenly, they find themselves in a world of slavery, misery, and hardship after being kidnapped by the slavers themselves!

Could the mastermind of the whole thing be the Patron, an extremely powerful person who is the Emperor Titus` friend? Or is the real criminal a different ill wisher?

Definitely a book action lovers must read!

A future classic
No matter which way you look at it, this book, like all of Lawrence's Roman mysteries, is flawless. Impeccably researched,it's child-friendly while remaining true to the brutalities of life in Ancient Rome, and the characters are so life-like characterisations that my sons and I often remark, 'Oh, Lupus would like that,' or 'That's just the sort of thing Jonathan would say!' The books are also often very funny and have us in stitches. But perhaps the best thing about them is the beautiful, understated writing. With a few simple words this writer can effortlessly evoke a scene. And, as with all the best children's writers, she puts a lot of delicious food into her stories. If you want your children to understand the after-effects of the tsunami, read them this book: it's all
here. How history repeats itself! Caroline Lawrence, you are an absolute five star star! And by the way, I'm a history teacher.