“The Slaver’s Apprentice” is a phenomenally enjoyable book.  

Jonathan Bryant has brilliantly brought to life the detailed world of early 19th century shipping and his plot points make for a heart-stopping read. Will Malachi discover who is murdering the slaves? Will he find agency for himself and if so, will he extend it to others? Will the crew conduct a mutiny against their evil captain? If so, who will live and who will die? And will the slaves survive murder and disease only to be sold? Or will they obtain their freedom?   
Readers will surely keep turning the pages to discover the answers to these questions in this excellent historical fiction. "

--Midwest Book Review

​​"The Slaver’s Apprentice is a haunting, thoroughly engrossing novel of the 19th-century Atlantic. Through the eyes of Malachi MacKay, Jonathan M. Bryant delivers a powerful indictment of the slave trade that is as historically meticulous as it is emotionally devastating.”

—Kevin Powers. Pen/Hemingway Award winner and Nationa Book Award Finalist.  

A marvelous job transitioning from academic to storyteller.  The pacing is superb, the plot unfolds seamlessly, the characters are well developed, it just all feels so whole."          

--Susan E. O'Donovan,  winner of the  James A. Rawley Prize for history.