An imaginative retelling of a piece of New England history that switches between the eighteenth century and the present, The Strange Story of Maria Hallett is a tale of romance, shipwrecks, pirates, a magic book, and a centuries-old unpaid debt.

When Joe, a Cape Cod hardware store owner, discovers an ancient library book, its supernatural power compels him to read it. He discovers the story of a passionate and headstrong teenage girl, Maria Hallett, who fell in love with Black Sam Bellamy, an infamous pirate and captain of the Whydah. As Joe learns more, he is pressed by a dark stranger to pay a dangerous debt he never knew existed. Can Joe determine what happened to Maria and Sam in time to save himself and his family?