ABOUT THIS BOOK: Hailed as groundbreaking by David Donachie, author of the John Pearce Naval Series and the Privateersman Mysteries— "All sea stories should tell you something new, and The Bermuda Privateer meets that criterion in spades. Fast paced and covering an area new to me; I was enthralled by the author's encyclopedic knowledge of the Caribbean. There are battles and conspiracies galore, with engaging characters and thrilling actions." Nicholas Fallon is captain of the schooner Sea Dog, a privateer that is fast, beautiful and deadly. Unbound by Royal Navy tradition, Fallon enjoys total independence in where he goes, how he fights, and whom he takes as crew. A woman—Beauty McFarland—is his first lieutenant. It's 1796, and Sea Dog's owner, Ezra Somers, employs Fallon to protect his Caribbean salt trade from French privateers and pirates. Wicked Jak Clayton is especially ruthless. When the two meet just off the Bahamas, even Fallon's cunning can't overcome their mismatch in firepower and desertion by a cowardly ally. Later, in Bermuda, Fallon is enlisted by the Royal Navy to intercept a Spanish flotilla carrying gold and silver to France. But a massive hurricane halts the British attack on the Spanish transports, driving several ships, including Fallon's, onto the Florida shore. Held by Spanish soldiers, Fallon and the surviving crew escape by turning enemies into friends. Once free, only one mission remains. Wicked Jak Clayton must die!
The Bermuda Privateer is an action-filled sea story with layered storylines and a modern storyteller's voice.

WHAT I THINK: I just had to read this book after seeing that David Donachie had given it such high praise, and I was not disappointed. The Bermuda Privateer is everything he claims, and more. I love pirate stories, and this is written with such authenticity and enthusiasm I was hooked from the beginning.

There is plenty of action, both on the high seas and amongst the characters, with multiple storylines running, enhanced by great historical and nautical detail. Battles, duplicity, romance, shipwrecks and more abound in this great nautical adventure. A 'must read'.

I believe this is Westbrook's debut novel. I look forward to many more books in this vein from him.

Thank you to McBooks Press via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of The Bermuda Privateer by William Westbrookfor review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This historical swashbuckling romp around the Caribbean was a delight. A great cast of characters take us through thrills and spills on land and sea.

This was a great story of pirates and their enemies in the Caribbean in the late 1770s. Some great characters and a story of non stop action. Enemies becoming friends and help coming from unexpected directions. A very enjoyable read of swashbuckling and daring do on the high seas.

This was a great read. It was full of adventure and It made me feel as though I was apart of the crew. This "Rag Tag" band of misfits were something. I really enjoyed this book and if sailing and adventures on the high seas are your thing then this book is for you.

I didn't enjoy this book. I was expecting more excitement.

A thoroughly rousing tall ship tale centered around the Caribbean. Westerbrook thoroughly knows his tall ships, artillery, points of sail, strategy, and tactics. The ship battles are thrilling, the villains despicable, the various captains given personality, motive, and maneuverability of their own.

I also enjoyed the female characters, who are given plenty of agency; I expect that "Beauty", Captain Fallon's first mate and later captain on her own, would not have been given as much respect as she is here, but this is a sea-faring adventure yarn, so I'm perfectly willing to go with it. Especially as Beauty is not Captain Fallon's love interest, who is a terrific character on her own.

The twists and turns of the story kept me guessing. The butcher's bill is high, as you'd expect in ship to ship warfare, especially with pirates, and the slippery French playing havoc with their putative Spanish allies.

The people of color in this story also get treated with far more respect than was historically accurate, and again I am totally willing to go with it.

Westbrook writes with dashing verve, offering plenty of historical detail about famous ports and pirate haunts as well as the ships that sailed in and out of him. I look forward to more tall ship action stories from his pen.

This was a truly fascinating adventure on the high seas! There is action, epic sea battles, mystery, adventure and betrayal. Fans of Clive Cussler will enjoy this historical romp through the 16th century Caribbean at the height of the golden age of piracy.
The only thing that I struggled with was the abundance of unfamiliar nautical terminology, but if you have an e-reader, the dictionary is just a click away.
Overall I would highly recommend this book!

"He's not afraid of action, blood, history or politics," wrote a pre review of this yarn based on the high seas of the Caribbean.
It is the 1770s and Captain Nicholas (Nico)Fallon, who was previously a Royal Naval Officer, is now the brave and intelligent Captain of the Sea Dog. Based in Bermuda he sails across the seas transporting salt- known as White Gold, a valuable commodity for trade in these waters and islands. His boss Ezra Somers sees Nico as a loyal employee and views his potential for a future business partnership. Family links are further added as Ezra's beautiful daughter Elinore is in love with the Captain.
Soon the waves are lapped by the British, who now find themselves in conflict with both France and Spain joining as allies against the British Navy. There is also the threat of pirates - particularly Wicked Jak Clayton.
Life on the Caribbean islands is atmospherically described and the many sea battles (not usually something I would enjoy reading) are detailed and sympathetic to the fears and comradeship of the sailors.
My only criticism might be the retrospective insertion of contemporary themes which slightly jarred.
Nico's first mate is a woman, Beauty (who had grown up with Nico on Bermuda). She is feisty young woman with one wooden leg and a lesbian lover. All totally feasible for the 18th century but somewhat felt placed (perhaps with a film version in mind?) There is also debate about the benefits of limes for scurvy and disgust at slavery.
Overall it's a page turner which draw me into the developing plot. I learnt a lot about sailing the high seas and the trading methods that traversed the continents with new sources of wealth.
It's certainly no thigh slapping Captain Jack Sparrow, so in many respects much more entertaining.

Nicholas Fallon is captain of the Sea Dog, and he is very good at what he does. When he learns of Wicked Jack Clayton is terrorizing the shipping lines, he throws his lot in to help bring the man down. Sea battles, traitors, cowardly allies, and life or death fights follow.

The story put me in mind of Rafael Sabatini's pirate novels, only with more blood and A LOT more swearing. So, I was left feeling divided by the story. On the one hand, it is a nice start to a series about a character, Fallon, who is a believable privateer. However, the swearing was a major turn off, although it probably is accurate for the time period.

Fallon is a good captain, one who cares about the crew. He is very clever, which was an excellent quality for a captain. To be honest, though, none of the side characters were memorable at all, save for Clayton. Overall, the story is paced well and written well.

For readers who enjoy a sea adventure and don't mind the constant use of the 'F' word, this may be the series for you.

I thank Net galley for giving me an opportunity to read and review William Westbrook's novel "The Bermuda Privateer".

From the blurb:
1796 Captain of the fast, beautiful, and deadly Bermuda schooner Sea Dog, Nicholas Fallon sails the Caribbean protecting Ezra Somer's lucrative salt business and battling Britain's enemies with his best friend and first mate, Beauty McFarland. Somer's daughter, Elinore, is Fallon's' lover. So when Somers offers Fallon a share of the business for capturing Wicked Jak Clayton the pirate who has been stealing his ships – Fallon is motivated to help. Sea Dog soon faces warships, treasure ships, an incompetent Royal Navy captain and a massive hurricane. Along the way Fallon learns about courage, sacrifice and friendship. Ezra Somer's had connived a letter of marque from the British Admiralty for Sea Dog to raid, plunder and otherwise disrupt and destroy Great Britain's enemies.

The novel is fast paced and the author's thorough knowledge of the Caribbean islands is made into good use for the backdrop of the plot. My first book reading experience with pirate themed started from Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood and this book did not disappoint me.

Below are couple of characters I like to mention.

(1)Nicholas Fallon the hero of the novel, spent most of his life in ship who started as a ship boy and became the Captain of schooner Sea Dog. His skills in mathematics and cleverness in general made him a natural navigator and much respected by the crew. A born leader, whose thoughts are always about the safety of his crews. A lovable character, patriotic, obedient and truthful to his employer.

(2)Beauty McFarland, Fallon's ship mate and boyhood friend, she is courageous, a statistician, helpful to Fallon in his adventures.

(3) Ezra Somer the owner of salt company, aged and best in shooting, helped Fallon in his fight against the much feared wicked Jak Clayton. Has the heart to accept the mistakes he had done.

(4)Elinore, Somer's daughter love interest of Fallon, beautiful girl, Fallon forgets to breath when he first saw her.

(5)Ajani, a teenage guy saved by Fallon, a victim of slavery and Jak Clayton. His special abilities is his nocturnal explorations. His expertise saves Fallon and his crew from death from Jak Clayton's island and later who comes to know about a trial through his friends, a slave trial to Savannah.

(6) Alvaron, Captain of Spanish ship, though his part is small compared with other 5 characters but stands above all. He is one of the captain of the ship, transferring gold and silver to be handed over to France. While transporting the treasure from Spanish Florida to France, he meets with Fallon who is now under the Royal Navy to attack and stop the transfer. Both the ships collide and reaches the shore, Alvaron gravely wounded. Though an enemy Fallon helps him with his own surgeon. Recuperating Alvaron comes to know that his country is giving away that much treasure to France, he joins hands with Fallon.

(7) The schooner Sea Dog, a ship captained by Nicholas Fallon, the fastest ship and threat to pirates.

I liked the part of Fallon and his crew escape from the clutches of Jak Clayton's island. The chapters dealing with the escape of Fallon and Alvaron crews via the slave trial to Savannah. The chapters about the encounter of Sea Dog with Spanish flotilla. The change of mind of Ezra Somers for his salt trade and slavery.

I like to quote some lines:

Death is preferable to living without honour. (Fallon's answer to Jak Clayton)

Sometimes in War humanity wins.

We only make the war that our governments decree.

Westbrook's first novel in a projected series in the vein of Forester and O'Brian is a winner--mixing the right amount of nautical detail with drama and politics on land. I will be interested to see how this series develops.