Showing results by publisher "Penmore Press LLC" in Sea Adventures

The year is 1840. Twenty-three years ago, Horatio Lord Hornblower was governor of the island of St. Helena and hailer to its only prisoner, Napoleon Bonaparte. First mutual respect, and later shared tragedy, forged a clandestine friendship between the two men. Now King Louis Philippe of France has requested that the remains of the late emperor be returned, and Queen Victoria has granted that request. The French have also requested that the former-Governor Lord Hornblower attend the exhumation as the official British representative.

There is a new threat in the Caribbean–a pirate named Black Rose has created a panic among merchant sailors. The attacks are becoming increasingly violent and deadly, and the pirate always leaves a calling card to claim responsibility: a single black rose on a victim’s body.

It is said that a man is grown by his past, and so it was with William Brewer. Before he took command of HMS Defiant in a hurricane and before he hunted pirates in HMS Revenge, Brewer endured a crucible of fire that molded him into the legend he became. Fresh from the tutelage of Napoleon Bonaparte on St. Helena, Brewer signs on for a cruise under Captain Bush in HMS Lydia to the Mediterranean to battle the Barbary Pirates.

Newly promoted to captain, William Brewer is tasked to serve and defend British interests in the waters off Brazil. But who defines what constitutes Britain’s Interests? Portugal’s former colony is declaring independence, and an independent Brazil might better serve Britain’s economic development. King George, however, chooses to support Portugal’s monarch and his efforts to retain the colony. At the very least, Portugal’s king wants to retrieve the royal treasury that was sent to Brazil for safekeeping during the Napoleonic wars.

After a century of war, revolutions, and imperial conquests, 1790s Europe is still embroiled in a battle for control of the sea and colonies. Tall ships navigate familiar and foreign waters, and ambitious young men without rank or status seek their futures in naval commands. First Lieutenant Alexander Clay of the frigate Agrius is self-made, clever, and ready for the new age. But the old world, dominated by patronage, retains a tight hold on advancement.

Freshly back from a year in the Indian Ocean, it is not long before Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are in action once more. This time, they are sent on a secret mission across the Channel. Amongst the forests and marshes of Southern Brittany, a Royalist rebellion is building, and the government at home is keen to support it. But as the uprising grows, Clay finds himself being drawn into a world of deception, intrigue, and treachery.

In 1798, the British Royal Navy withdrew from the Mediterranean to combat the threat of invasion at home. In their absence, rumors abound of a French Army gathering in the south of France under General Napoleon Bonaparte, and of a large fleet gathering to transport them. Alexander Clay and his ship, Titan, are sent to the Mediterranean to investigate. Clay verifies the troubling rumors but is unable to learn where the French fleet and the army will be heading.

A Sloop of War, the second novel in the Alexander Clay series, is set on the island of Barbados, where the temperature of the politics, prejudices, and amorous ambitions are matched only by the sweltering heat of the climate.

A major drug deal is underway and loose ends are being taken care of when two things go wrong: two murders that were supposed to look like a suicide and an accident get noticed – one on an English railroad, and one on board an ocean-going barge. As police are sent to investigate both seemingly unrelated incidents, the men at sea find themselves in dangerous waters. Who among them is on the take, and who is on the level? Who can be trusted when all of them are enduring the special man-made hell of life on an oil barge?

New York, 1850. Two clipper ships depart on a race around Cape Horn to the boomtown of San Francisco, where the first to arrive will gain the largest profits and also win a $50,000 wager for her owner.

Death limits a man’s future opportunities, but for Royal Marine Major Thomas Pennywhistle, death expands them. After a near-death experience, he sees the world with enlightened eyes and enhanced perceptions. He will need them, because he has a code to break, a murder to solve, and spies to outfox. He will be entering a world of international intrigue, confronting a conspiracy to undermine the British monarchy. His capacity for guile, quick thinking, and decisive action have served him well in combat; now he will exercise his talents in the arena of politics.

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?