I have read a couple of sequels to Robert Louis Stevenson's acclaimed novel, Treasure Island, but this is my first prequel (of which, I understand, there are several).

Pulp fiction writer A.D. Howden Smith published Porto Bello Gold in 1924. It is one of several books that Smith wrote about members of the Ormerod family; in this novel, the protagonist is Bob Ormerod, son of Harry Ormerod, who was the main character in his earlier books The Doom Trail and Beyond the Sunset. Bob learns his great-uncle is Andrew Murray, a notorious gentleman pirate, on the same night he is kidnapped from his father's New York home by Murray and some of his shipmates, including the infamous one-legged man Long John Silver, who would play such a major role in Stevenson's tale.

Although neither Murray nor Ormerod appeared in Treasure Island, you'll encounter several familiar names, besides Silver: Captain Flint, Billy Bones, Pew, Black Dog, Darby McGraw and Ben Gunn. New characters, other than Ormerod and Murray, include a giant Dutchman who follows Bob into peril, a lovely Irish girl who is dragged into the plot, and her father, Murray's co-conspirator, as well as several intriguing members of the pirate crew.

Smith reportedly asked Lloyd Osborne, Stevenson's stepson and executor of the author's estate, for permission to write this prequel, which was freely given. In Smith's novel, the origins of the buried treasure and treasure map are revealed.

Murray has masterminded the capture of a Spanish treasure ship, with which he hopes to fund the Jacobite cause in Scotland. He brings Bob along as his unwilling ally, feeling some need to include him out of love for his niece, Bob's deceased mother.

He captains the King James and is partnered with Flint, commander of the Walrus. The alliance between the two captains is tenuous at best, and the likes of Silver and Bones are always plotting for a bigger share of the loot. Of course, betrayals, conflict and mayhem occur.

The strength of Smith's novel is his voice, which is an uncanny match for Stevenson's. It's been a few years since I last read Treasure Island, but I'd almost swear the books shared an author. He also captures the characters well; Smith's Silver is Stevenson's, and the same can be said of Bones, Pew and the rest. The pieces of the story fall neatly into place, setting up the plot of Treasure Island as if Stevenson had planned it that way all along. But that never feels like the book was written simply to be a prequel; Porto Bello Gold stands on its own and can be read without any knowledge of the classic that inspired it.

Although it was long out of print, McBooks -- a publisher that focuses on nautical fiction -- resurrected the book in 1999 and has kept it available ever since. Thanks, McBooks! This is an excellent book that Treasure Island fans should definitely read.