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Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
It is 53 A.D. in ancient Italy where a landowner, Gaius Petronicus, harvests his olive oil and vineyard crops and goes off to sell them in the nearby town of Nolia. He entices young Justa, a girl dressed as a boy and forced into slavery, away from the corrupt Calitorius Temidis and begins acquiring an entourage of a gigantic German named Gromachius, an old drunken soldier Primus, a lazy teenage boy Telesforus and other colorful characters. However,Calitorius does not want to pay his gambling debts to Gaius, and when Gaius demands payments, Calitorius has Gaius' home burned, his wife and cook killed, and his beloved teenage daughter Portia kidnapped. Gaius. Justa, Gromachius, and the other followers set sail to rescue Portia in an old boat that Gaius buys, refurbishes, and renames "The Golden Cockerel." Their adventures are never-ending and full of twists and turns as they seek Gaius' missing daughter.
The Golden Cockerel is a fast-moving adventure story in the style of Roman myths of old but told in a modern tongue. It is highly well written and well edited. Gaius and the many characters in the story are on an odyssey that is truly fun to read. The plot moves along quite believably with twists and turns everywhere. The Golden Cockerel is well illustrated by Heather Kellas and includes a map at the beginning that will help the reader. The many adventures of Gaius, Justa, and Gaius' motley crew in this novel are absorbing as they escape, just barely, from one set of harrowing circumstances to another. They survive one mishap only to face down another. This is an adventure story that should not be missed.
