TREAD
CAREFULLY ON THE SEA
FIRST
BOOK BY DAVID K. BRYANT
Buy link: http://amzn.to/1zs9ebu
SOLSTICE
PUBLISHING
Step
up the gangplank to an adventure tale set in the 18th Century, when
the world made its money from conquest and slavery, pirates were the
muggers of the sea lanes and life was fragile – with violence and
disease never far away.
Tread
Carefully on the Sea
is the first novel by retired journalist David K. Bryant. Packed with
historical atmosphere, it will take you on a voyage from Jamaica to
the “New World” of the American colonies. The action comes as
rapidly as the horrors in a ghost train, starting with the kidnapping
of an aristocratic young woman on
the night of her 21st birthday party by Captain Flint’s crew.
Amidst
conspiracy, murder, cannonades, bare-knuckle boxing, disease and a
devastating storm, there is the chance for all the main characters to
reveal the better or worse sides of their natures. This is a
swashbuckle, yes, but it’s also a story about the strengths and
weaknesses of believable human beings.
“I’ve
written an escapist yarn in the tradition of high adventure but in
much more user-friendly language than the old classics,” says David
K. Bryant. “It’s exciting, involving, a bit tear-jerking and is
pure adventure and romance.”
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE
MAIN CHARACTERS
Captain
Flint is a
lonely man. His education, intelligence and wit leave him isolated
amongst the pirate crew who sail with him. He feels more affinity
with the hostages who are brought aboard his ship but he becomes
trapped by the need to escape the consequences of the kidnap and the
challenge to his leadership from one of his officers. Flint kills and
schemes his way out of several dangers but there are two threats from
which he cannot escape. The first is the failing health that he
refuses to accept. The second is the scale of his own success as a
criminal. He will never be left in peace to enjoy the proceeds of his
piracy. In this story we learn what finally happens to him.
Captain
Michael
Townsend is
the model of a disciplined and dutiful Navy officer. He is also a man
haunted by something in his past; something that could ruin his
future. The decisions forced upon Townsend by the kidnapping help him
to resolve his inner conflicts but jeopardize the survival of those
he wishes to protect. Townsend’s instincts are to put duty first
but will duty deny him happiness?
Jessica
Trelawny is
the spirited niece of the Governor of Jamaica. She hates the
conformity of 18th century society. Soon after she is snatched away
from her home she puts her rebellious nature to work against the
pirates. Captain Flint learns to admire her — and to regret that
she ever came aboard his ship.
Jessica’s
maid Libby
becomes a prisoner simply because she is with her mistress at the
time of the kidnap. She plays a major role in the fight-back against
the pirates. Does she bring into use special talents inherited from
her African origin — or is she simply a very clever woman?
Patrick
O’Hara
began life in the squalor of the Irish famine and by a fluke became
an officer in the Royal Navy. He is thrust into a vicious
bare-knuckle fight aboard the pirate ship. Whether or not O’Hara
wins, the legacy of the fight is a power struggle threatening the
survival of Captain Flint himself.
The
Walrus is
the huge black galleon stolen by Flint from a Spanish captain. It has
a pivotal role in the narrative and a heart-rending demise when
Captain Flint’s voyage of crime comes to an end.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TREAD
CAREFULLY ON THE SEA
EXCERPTS
**
As
the shirt was removed, her eyes came level with a huge tattoo of an
eagle on his chest. Ridiculously, that gave her renewed terror, as
though the tattoo was worse than the man. There was certainly menace
from the eagle. It stared at her, its talons outstretched and its
wings spread wide. It looked prepared to pounce right out of his
chest and claw at her face.
**
The
cry that would have brought forth a dozen soldiers was about to leave
the governor’s tongue – but remained unleashed as the pirate
warned: “I wouldn’t do that, Governor, for the sake of your
niece’s health.”
**
“Did you get the name of
the ship?” demanded the governor.
“It was the Walrus, Sir,”
the messenger replied.
“Captain
Flint,” said Trelawny, and for the moment that was all he did say.
**
One
of the stories that had evoked within the Royal Navy a sneaking
admiration for the pirate chieftain was that he had captured a big
Spanish galleon and made it his own. Now Townsend could see in front
of him the confirmation of that audacity. The big ship sat on the
ocean like she owned it.
**
“Britain
came to this part of the world to find riches. It was very successful
in doing so but it had a major problem. It was shipping around so
many slaves and so much merchandise that it didn’t have sufficient
military resources to protect its new-found wealth. So what did it do
about the policing of its trade routes and the protection of places
like Jamaica? It found it convenient to encourage the people you
would call pirates…You had better hope that the King never turns
against the Royal Navy in the same way that he turned against the
privateers.
**
Reeling
and with blood dripping down his face, O’Hara got up on one knee,
then the other. By the time he was on his feet, Hugh was charging
forward like a stag in the rutting season. Another head butt was
imminent.
**
Flint
bent his knees and placed his hands on them so that his face came
level with Townsend’s. “That’s it, then” barked the pirate
captain. “You don’t agree to my proposal. I don’t agree to
yours. Our fates are intertwined.”
**
She
didn’t close her eyes and her brain pitifully tried to distract her
from reality by registering that the gunman was left-handed. His
finger was going back with the trigger. Spontaneously, she said a few
words of her native Ashanti. The phrase had been taught to her by
Queen Nanny: “Do not fear death any more than you fear life.” If
Libby was going to die, she wanted those to be the last words she
said.
Tread
Carefully on the Sea by David K. Bryant
Solstice
Publishing
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DAVID
K. BRYANT – BIOGRAPHY
I started writing fiction after retiring from journalism and public relations. I suppose the books waited their turn during all the years I wrote articles, features, speeches and promotional material for other people. My career included running a district office for a daily newspaper, helping to introduce professional PR into the British police service and promoting a major parliamentary Bill for Margaret Thatcher’s government.
I
live in Somerset, one of the nicest counties in England, and am
blessed with a wonderful family. My wife Stephanie and I have been
married for forty years. We are proud of our two children Matthew and
Melanie, grandson Henry, son-in-law Jamie and daughter-in-law
Fleur.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tread
Carefully on the Sea – the background
I
was seven years old or thereabouts and I walked round the garden
reading Treasure
Island.
When I got to the bit about the musket and cutlass battle I was so
engrossed I walked into a tree. I was proud of my bleeding nose – I
imagined I got it in a fight with a pirate.
What
intrigued me most about that classic book by Robert Louis Stevenson
were all the references to Captain Flint, a pirate king who was
brutal, intimidating and quite likely an alcoholic – yet obviously
very clever.
Without
Flint there would have been no Treasure
Island for
he was the man who had buried the Treasure on
the Island.
Yet in that book we hear about Flint only in reminiscences from some
of the protagonists because Flint is dead by the time the story
begins.
Stevenson’s
narrative tells us Flint took six men ashore with him to stash the
loot. But, having apparently murdered the others, only Flint came
back to the ship, giving him the security of being the only man who
knew where the cache was.
There
had to be a story around that. For me, Flint deserved a biography of
his own. What’s more, it should answer all those other questions
posed by Treasure
Island.
If, as Stevenson tells us, Long John Silver had lost his leg in the
same broadside as Old Pew lost his ‘deadlights’, what were the
circumstances of that broadside? And how come that Billy Bones, the
first mate, came into possession of Flint’s map where X marked the
spot of the buried loot?
It’s
taken me a long time but now I have supplied my own answers. I hope
you enjoy them and I hope you identify with the experiences of the
other characters I’ve created when you read Tread
Carefully on the Sea.
I like a good pirate story. I will put this on my TBR list. Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteTerry