'Kidnapped'

"Kidnapped" is really good. I thought it was about pirates and it kind of is. Mostly it's political.

Having visited Scotland and Edinburgh where part of the story is set, it's a very fine geographical read as R. Louis Stevenson is exact in pointing out landmarks, islands, hamlets, cities, castles, landmarks and other tidbits as our heroes trek across Brittania.

But there's also the element of family. The secrets among father and son. The sibling relationship Balfour and Breck form. Then there's that bastard uncle Ebenezer.

Combine that with the paternal relationship of the ship captain and the clan chiefs. Or how the boy Ransome was abused like a red-headed stepchild by the ship's first mate.