HardCover and SoftCover Available for Pre-Order Now! Electronic Kindle version will be available closer to the release date of June 23, 2026.

Barrett Schmanska’s Blackbeard’s Lost Head

Blackbeard’s Lost Head (2026) is a gripping, bi-coastal mystery that races from a Puget Sound Indian Tribe to the historic shores of Hampton, Virginia – all in pursuit of the pirate’s legendary severed head. The story brings a little-known part of Native American and African American history to life through a tangled web of modern suspense, historical intrigue, and wry cultural commentary, all captured through a sharp-witted Native American protagonist.

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Barrett Schmanska's Blackbeard's Lost Head

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Blackbeard’s Lost Head and the Indian Shaker Church

While working at Tulalip and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, I knew members of the Shaker Church but never had the nerve to ask anyone about Shaker beliefs or orthodoxy. When…

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Artemis II and Buck Rogers: A Journey through Barrett’s Stuff

When the Artemis II made its splashdown a couple of weeks ago, I thought of something I had related to the original Apollo moon missions back in the 1960s. It’s…

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Ratings & Reviews for Blackbeard’s Lost Head

Blackbeard’s Lost Head grabbed me from the prologue and kept me transfixed on a storyline I never saw coming. I loved it.
Dr. Ross Bayton
Director, Heronswood Garden, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
Advanced Copy Review
Blackbeard’s Lost Head shows the writer’s affection for our Tribal people here on Puget Sound. He lovingly captures the nuances of daily life in our communities, no doubt culled from his 30 years at Port Gamble S’Klallam and Tulalip. This book moves at a steady pace, offers insight into an interesting period of American history, and presents a storyline that kept my attention until the end.
Kelly Sullivan~Ha’mekwiten
Executive Director, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
Advanced Copy Review
The chase for Blackbeard’s Lost Head kept me turning the page but it’s the settings and characters that haunted me after I put the book down.
Austin Ashworth
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Member
Advanced Copy Review
I don’t have a lot of time to read, so a book had better be easy to read and most importantly interesting to read. Barrett has done it with Blackbeard’s Lost Head. The book is really clever without being pretentious. His descriptions of our community are spot on. Eerily so. I did find myself wondering who Barrett’s characters might be in real life.

Tawny DeCoteau
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Member
Advanced Copy Review
This is a whodunit featuring unlikely but endearing FBI partners, Dodge and Hugh. Their relationship is a fun, irreverent display of friendship. Dodge is a Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Member and a veteran agent. Hugh is a younger agent who spends much of his time perplexed by Hugh’s brilliant but unconventional approach to life and their work. Barrett denies it, but I swear Charlie is based on my old friend and colleague Greg Anderson.

Kara Horton
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Member
Advanced Copy Review
I am a self-proclaimed super reader…meaning I read a lot. And I love reading Barrett’s books. He brings the characters to life in a way that make me feel that I actually know them. As a Tribal Member, there’s a certain atmosphere and culture that’s hard to capture. But Barrett does it. I keep thinking he’s been with us for way too long.

Cherie Jacobs
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Member
Advanced Copy Review
This may be the first time that a prologue grabbed my attention. But it did! I was immediately hooked by the story and couldn’t stop reading. I was drawn to Dodge and Hugh from the moment they showed up. And Dana, too. I wanted to see what happened to them. The cliffhangers at the end of the chapters really pulled me along and made me want to keep reading. Even though much of the book is set on the Rez, it would appeal to anyone.

Christine Conners
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Health Services
Advanced Copy Review
This is a book for everyone, but especially readers who like historical fiction and mysteries. Schmanska pivots from the time of Blackbeard to the present day with amazing ease. His ability to seamlessly weave historical facts left me wondering if perhaps the whole wild tale was true. Is it?
Joe Lockhart
Sound Excavation, Inc.
Advanced Copy Review