Paradise of the Damned

“An engaging chronicle . . . A breezy adventure tale starring an audacious hero.”

“Elizabethan-era English explorer Walter Raleigh’s quest for the mythical gold-filled city of El Dorado is vividly recreated in this rollicking account from bestseller Thomson . . . Thomson’s breezy and puckish narration makes the historical subject matter sizzle. Readers will relish this enticing romp through the Age of Exploration.”

"Thomson does a beautiful job of instilling terror into the reader in prose that is authoritative, smooth and effortless to read."

"This absorbing account focuses on several attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to locate a hidden city of gold in uncharted Guyana."

“A wonderful character study of people who think they are just one more mile from that last big score. The score they can retire on. The score which will make them immortal… Thomson has a hysterical way of infusing this dark story with witty asides which are always welcome.”

Praise for Born to Be Hanged:

"Thomson does a fine job mining the historical record for all this swash and buckle . . . A larger-than-life tale . . . It reads, quite literally, like a pirate novel."

“Unleashes an epic history of a band of ‘gentlemen pirates.’”

“This swashbuckling history recounts a two-yearlong pirate raid in the 17th century along the Pacific coastline, with over 300 dastardly buccaneers in search of Spanish gold.”

“Thomson is an engaging and enthusiastic writer.”

“It’s hard to believe that serious maritime history could be quite so fascinating and outrageously readable. Born to Be Hanged is one of those books you simply can’t put down, a true history of a band of buccaneers who embark on a two-year rampage along the Pacific coasts of Central and South America, undertaking a series of daring, insane, and bloody raids that are at times so improbable as to defy belief. This is a truly marvelous read and I highly recommend it.”