by Jeffrey Roswell McCord

This book, and “Don’t stop the carnival”  are my 2 favorite St. John related books.

We had the chance to connect with the author Jeff and here gave us a little more information on how the book came about:

Undocumented Visitors in a Pirate Sea was inspired by my love of St. John, its history, culture and our sailing community. Moving here from the Washington, DC region in 2010 struck me as akin to coming to a new world. And, that led me to think about how new and old world’s handled first contacts in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

I devoted about three years of spare time researching USVI history including Columbus’ violent “discovery” of these islands in a battle with Carib Indians on St. Croix, Danish colonial history, slavery and, of course, pirates. I also researched unidentified flying and submersible objects in the Caribbean and found many credible first-hand accounts by naval officers and others.

So, my book is a unique work of fact-based fiction providing credible, documented information and informed speculation about the “UFO” mystery and extraterrestrial life within the context of our islands. The question of extraterrestrial visitation of Earth is the most profound mystery in human history.

The book receives an average of 4.9 out of five star reviews on Amazon and Good Reads from a wide variety of people ranging from academics to young aspiring writers. It was a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Here’s how a Truth-Out.Org editor described the book:

TruthOut contributor and historian Jeffrey R. McCord has written and self-published a genre-crossing and bending first novel, ‘Undocumented Visitors in a Pirate Sea; An Investigation of Certain Caribbean Phenomena by Dr. Thayer Harris.’ The book blends history, UFO lore, science fiction, sailing and travel lore, the fractures of the national security state and idiosyncrasies of border policing into a potent sort of literary beachside rum punch, complete with a happy paper parasol.”

Here’s what a Writer’s Digest judge said a novel competition:

Author Jeffrey Roswell McCord takes a uniquely “mockumentary” approach to the story of USOs (Unidentified Submerged Objects), the aquatic version of the flying saucer, in a story of not so much alien invasion as alien visitation. This approach could easily come across as gimmicky, with extensive footnotes often pointing to various internet sources, but the author pulls it off with surprising aplomb. . . Mr. McCord took some considerable chances and those chances paid off well. Undocumented Visitors in a Pirate Sea was a surprising, entertaining read. I hope we’ll see more from Jeffrey Roswell McCord.”

Both of these reviewers are correct. The Writers Digest reviewer also makes an important point. Jeff did take “considerable chances” in writing this book and in trying to market it. Many people who have written serious works touching on UFOs and extraterrestrials have faced ridicule. In striving to make the book as factually based as possible, he was conscious of that reality.

He succeeded in crafting an important, believable and entertaining novel addressing the world’s greatest mystery. And, its a great sea story and beach read!

You can order the book here:

Jeff is also actively supporting the efforts to stop the plans for the Coral Bay Marina and has written a great piece on that here.

More great St. John holiday reads can be found here.