Blackbird Story
- John Singe
It started with a letter from Queensland and abruptly Duncan Ross, a placid clerk, is plucked from his humdrum life on the Sydney wharves and dispatched on a secret mission on the South Seas where he encounters brutal blackbirders, fierce cannibals and, unexpectedly, a resurgent Ku Klux Klan fixed on recreating the cotton plantations of the Old South in the far reaches of the Pacific. From the crytalline lagoons of the Coral Sea to the pearling grounds of the Torres Strait Duncan charts an erratic course betwixt duty and self-preservation. Kidnapped, castaway and desperate he finally pitches up on the raw coast of unknown New Guinea where he is plunged headlong into the midst of unspeakable savagery and danger. This is a rollicking saga of adventure and intrigue set against the colonial rivalry of the great powers in the South Pacific.
John Singe taught Senior English and History in high schools in North Queensland and Papua New Guinea during four decades. He settled for many years in the Torres Strait Islands and his particular interests are historical research, writing, travelling and diving in the Pacific Islands. He has authored five previous books on Torres Strait history and fiction and has written a number of scripts for Australian television. He lives in Cairns, Queensland.