Pirate: Freebooter (HC/K)

Tim Severin is releasing a new book in The Pirate Adventures of Hector Lynch series. Pirate: Freebooter is available for pre-order in multiple formats and will be released worldwide on 9 March 2017.

Hector Lynch, wanted by the authorities in London for piracy, has come to St Mary’s Island, near Madagascar, on his search for the elusive Libertalia – a settlement where it is said that all are allowed to live freely.Here, he meets Captain Henry Avery, captain of the freebooter Fancy, which is sailing north through the Indian Ocean in search of a huge haul of gold. Avery requires a navigator, and persuades Hector and his friends Jacques and Jezreel to join the voyage, with the promise that they should be free to leave if they come across the fabled Libertalia on their travels.Although Hector is reluctant to return once more to a life of piracy, his desperation to find a place he can finally settle with his wife Maria draws him in. The Fancy joins forces with other notorious pirate ships, including Thomas Tew’s Amity, and as they sail up through the Arabian Sea, they encounter a convoy of the Grand Mogul’s ships, including the Ganj-i-Sawa’i, the ‘Exceeding Treasure’, laden with riches. Soon, Hector finds himself caught up in one of the most deadly plunders in history . . .

Source: Pirate: Freebooter (HC/K)

The Hungry Horizon (PB)

Mike Hawthorne recently released the first novel in a proposed 3 book pirate fiction series,. The Hungry Horizon, is available worldwide in Paperback.

Jamaica, Christmas 1679. In Morant Bay, a fleet of buccaneers secretly prepares to attack the Spanish Main, in defiance of the peace treaty between England and Spain. A veteran of the Dutch Wars and Henry Morgan’s sack of Panama, Tom Sheppard flees from a brawl in Port Royal with his two young turtle-fishing mates to join the expedition and escape the threat of the gallows. Expecting a quick raid on a Caribbean port, they find themselves carried by events far beyond their original target towards the Great Southern Ocean. The buccaneers struggle against wild seas, rivers, mountains and jungles. Their allies are fierce native tribes who have never surrendered to the Spanish colonists. For Tom, each step takes him further away from the prospect of a respectable career in Europe. Reluctantly, he is dragged deep into the criminal world of squabbling pirate captains on the edge of the known world. His dreams of escape are frustrated at every turn. He must keep his friends safe and come to terms with what he has become or go mad.

Source: The Hungry Horizon (PB)

On the Account (K)

Helen Hollick has a new book in her Sea Witch series available for pre-order, On the Account. It will be available for kindle download on 7 July 2016.

Captain Jesamiah Acorne is in trouble. Again. Arrested for treason and smuggling, believing his beloved ship, Sea Witch, lies wrecked on England’s North Devon coast, his only hope of escaping the noose is for someone to quash the charges. That someone turns out to be his ex-lover – but there’s a price to pay.He needs to find a boy who has disappeared, and a valuable casket that more than one person wants to get their hands on. When people start getting murdered and Barbary pirates kidnap his wife, Tiola, his priorities rapidly change – but who is lying about what? Is returning to piracy a wise idea? Is Tiola having an affair with her mysterious Night-Walker ‘friend’?Meanwhile, Tiola has her own battle to fight – keeping herself and Jesamiah alive!

Source: On the Account (K)

Review: The Pyrate by Michael Aye | Historic Naval Fiction

The Pyrate: The Rise of Cooper Cain is the first book in what appears to be a promising new series from Michael Aye. It follows the life of Cooper Cain as he becomes involved in piracy in the waters of the Caribbean and off the American Atlantic coast during the years preceding the War of 1812.

Aye has followed what appears to be a modern trend of moving pirate novels away from the Hollywood caricatures of pirates and introducing more believable characters. In reality there was little difference between a legal privateer and an illegal pirate and it is perhaps not surprising that the lure of easy money attracted men from all walks of life to cross this line. There were some who you would be best to steer clear of, such as Edward Teach (Blackbeard), but there were probably just as many ordinary men with family ties.

The author has a very believable cast of characters who, when not at sea, lead normal lives, albeit with a wary eye, where they have the same concerns as there law abiding fellow citizens but there is also plenty of at sea action as well as a tie in with his cast of characters from the Fighting Anthony’s series. There is even some insight into how pirates recycled their plunder, particularly ships, into legal markets.

I found the book to be a very enjoyable read which was hard to put down and I look forward to seeing how the characters will be developed through the series. Highly recommended.

Source: Review: The Pyrate by Michael Aye | Historic Naval Fiction

Fortune’s Whelp (PB/K) | Historic Naval Fiction

Benerson Little, known for his non-fiction works on piracy, recently released the first book in a new fiction series, Fortune’s Whelp. It is available in paperback and for kindle download worldwide.

Set in the 17th century during the heyday of privateering and the decline of buccaneering, Fortune’s Whelp is a brash, swords-out sea-going adventure. Scotsman Edward MacNaughton, a former privateer captain, twice accused and acquitted of piracy and currently seeking a commission, is ensnared in the intrigue associated with the attempt to assassinate King William III in 1696. Who plots to kill the king, who will rise in rebellion—and which of three women in his life, the dangerous smuggler, the wealthy widow with a dark past, or the former lover seeking independence—might kill to further political ends? Variously wooing and defying Fortune, Captain MacNaughton approaches life in the same way he wields a sword or commands a fighting ship: with the heart of a lion and the craft of a fox.

Source: Fortune’s Whelp (PB/K) | Historic Naval Fiction

The Pyrate (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction

The first book in Michael Aye’s new series, The Pyrate: The Rise of Cooper Cain, is now available for kindle download worldwide. It will also be released in Hardcover shortly.

Young Cooper Cain is driven from his home and his country by a nefarious cousin. Little does he expect the life that awaits him…

On his way to Antigua from his native England, Cooper finds himself captured by pirates and eventually signs on to be a member of their crew.

Follow Coper Cain as he finds his way aboard a real pirate ship, navigating through extreme danger, love, and loss on the high seas, trying to reconcile his ideals with his adopted way of life.

Source: The Pyrate (HC/K) – Historic Naval Fiction

Review: Nor Gold by Kerry Lynne – Historic Naval Fiction

Nor Gold: The Pirate Captain continues the stories of Nathan, Kate and their friend Thomas. There are so many twists in the plot it is impossible to summarise, however it’s a story of romance, friendship and loyalty in a brutal world. Nathan is torn between his love of Kate, her desires and the need to protect her from evil enemies and at the same time his loyalty to his ship and crew and his need for revenge on a former nemesis.

There are plenty of characters who have a developed background and as with most pirates there is the subplot of who can be trusted and who is working for thier own profit.

Like the first book it is a very well written plot with twists that make it hard to put down as you always want to know what will happen next. Romance, suspense, action, scheming, Nor Gold has it all and you are left eagerly awaiting the sequel.

This book and the series are highly recommended.

Source: Review: Nor Gold by Kerry Lynne – Historic Naval Fiction

Review: The Pirate Captain by Kerry Lynne – Historic Naval Fiction

If you are looking for a pirate fiction ‘fix’ I do not think you will regret picking up The Pirate Captain by Kerry Lynne. The book follows the lives and interactions of a particular crew, their friends and their enemies in a well thought out plot. The characterisations are strong and the pirate characters are not the caricatures of the big and small screens. Yes they are pirates and yes they can be ruthless but at the same time they are a sort of family. The captain, Nathan, and the principal female character Cate both have good back stories that are slowly revealed.

As an AOS book it was good but it is also a good romance novel with a ‘will they, won’t they’ suspense element.

I found it a well written narrative with a plot that made it hard to put down and which left me wanting more when it ended even though it was a lengthy 620 pages. With the Kindle version currently available for £5.79 this makes it excellent value for money.

Highly recommended.

via Review: The Pirate Captain by Kerry Lynne – Historic Naval Fiction.

Review: A Pirate’s Tale: The Sea Fox by Gary Robert Muschla – Historic Naval Fiction

Accused of a papist plot in Reastoration England Jon Nostrum, son of a knight, wakes to find himself as a seaman aboard a ship owned by Edmund Stanton a ruthless Jamaican businessman who has coerced Kath Ellis.

To escape Stanton the crew mutiny and Jon finds he now has a new career as a pirate captain with a powerful enemy bent on revenge. But how will the intervention of Sir Henry Morgan, former buccaneer and now Governor of Jamaia, affect things.

At it’s heart this is a fairly standard will the girl run off with the pirate plot but it is very well written with a storyline that is well paced with rounded characters that are far more believable than some of the Pirates of the Carribbean caricatures. I enjoyed reading it and would purchase a sequel if one were written.

Recommended.

via Review: A Pirate’s Tale: The Sea Fox by Gary Robert Muschla – Historic Naval Fiction.

Nor Gold: The Pirate Captain K – Historic Naval Fiction

Kerry Lynne has just released a new pirate fiction novel, Nor Gold: The Pirate Captain. It is available for kindle download worldwide.

“Nor Gold” picks up where “The Pirate Captain” left off: Cate Mackenzie, a woman who lost everything to the Jacobite Uprising, trying to make sense out of being sold to Thomas, Nathanael Blackthorne’s pirate friend. Once again, Fate has robbed her of both her heart and her home.

As Nathan sails off, Cate tries to come to terms with her new situation. Practicality tells her Thomas is not an altogether poor future: he’s amiable, generous, and most of all, willing… but her heart is still with Nathan.

Nathan, in the meantime, has but two quests: to get Cate back, and to claim his revenge against Lord Breaston Creswicke and the Royal West Indies Mercantile Company. In that process, he discovers there is no outrunning his past and that there are consequences for every action.

The Caribbean Sea isn’t big enough for Nathan, Thomas and Creswicke. Paths cross… and sparks fly.

via Nor Gold: The Pirate Captain K – Historic Naval Fiction.