Product Description

From Pirates & Privateers Newsletter: Isabella's first voyage as a pirate captain doesn't quite go as plan. Someone blows up their prize. Pirates in league with a rival captain stage a mutiny. Someone betrays her to her enemy -- the Spanish. To prove herself worthy of being captain, she must gain her freedom and pursue her enemies. But one particular Spaniard throws a wrench into her plans. From the publisher: A young adult, historical action-romance that chronicles the swashbuckling exploits of the pirate captain Isabella, her second in comman Jean-Michel, and the Spanish pirate hunter Juan Carlos. The action takes places in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2055508 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-21
• Released on: 2006-12-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 198 pages

Review
A grand high-seas adventure any teen would love; many adults as well. Non-stop action and adventure highlight the story as we learn a little history as well as become close acquaintances of Isabella and her crew. The heartwarming love story is a nice touch and does not detract from the main plotline as Isabella and her crew aspires to be the Scourge of the Spanish Main . The brilliant descriptive powers of author, S.R. Staley allows the reader to step back into bygone days and feel the intense emotions as the sword fights and cannon fire fuel the imagination. This reader would very easily recommend The Pirate of Panther Bay to anyone who loves a grand pirate adventure. Very nice blend of history and adventure! --youngadultromancewriters.com

Part adventure story, part history lesson, but 100 percent pirate. Staley has crafted a tale that will stir your emotions and your mind. Whether you're young or old, The Pirate of Panther Bay will forever change the way you think about buccaneers. --Tim Bete, author, Guide to Pirate Parenting

This adventurous tale takes a circuitous journey that remains true to the real world of pirates and Spain s desire to reign over the New World. --Pirates & Privateers Newsletter

From the Publisher
This Caribbean swashbuckler is written for young adults, but full-grown pirates will find plenty of intrigue, adventure, and romance to rock their boat, too. The story follows the exploits of Isabella, an escaped slave from Hispaniola's sugar plantations as she tries to rally her motley band of pirates against pursuing Spanish pirate hunters. Her adventures force her to confront mutiny as well as ruthless rogue pirates who relish the idea of kiling one of the Caribbean's most notorious pirates. One reader says the "sword fights leave you breathless" and another says the "adventure and romance brings you in with each turn of the page". The Pirate of Panther Bay is the first in a series of five novels following the exploits of Isabella and Jean-Michel.

From the Back Cover
Isabella never thought her first command would be in jeopardy so soon. But pirates demand results, and she wasn't delivering. If she could just get rid of her albatross--the dashing young Spaniard seized from her first prize. She should have killed him, like his captain. But, she couldn't have known his very presence was about to send her life into a maelstrom of mutiny, imprisonment, and revenge. And, she couldn't have known that he would become her savior, the key to restoring the Pirate of Panther Bay back to her rightful place as the scourge of the Spanish Main.

Customer Reviews

I love a novel that starts with a hand drawn map!
I love a novel that starts with a hand drawn map. We, as readers, are immediately on a quest. The other great thing about reading "The Pirate of Panther Bay" before going to sleep is you dream of pirates. How cool is that? In the case of this particular story the captain of the Marée Rouge is an eighteen-year-old woman (That's right, Jim Hawkins, a female pirate captain!) who takes a young Spanish noble prisoner six months after her lover has been murdered. "How could she be attracted to this boy? Santa Ana symbolized everything she fought against--slavery, privilege, plantations. What was she going to do?"

Because of this lovelorn central character the book sometimes seems more romantic novel than adventure yarn, but S.R. Staley puts plenty of zip into the action sequences. Here he masterfully captures a sword fight, building tension it seems hard to believe possible short of seeing it on a huge movie screen: "Again and again, the quartermaster attacked. Isabella parried, then thrust her tip forward in a feigned riposte, lulling the quartermaster into another powerful cut. She deflected each cut. First up, then down, then to the side. She watched him intently as the blade sliced through the air. Each arcing cut weaned a little more strength. She marveled at how he took the bait, time and time again. When he slowed to regroup, she would riposte or lunge, drawing him into another aggressive cut."

There's fine description plus conspiracies and colorful characters galore, but what I liked best was the irony of the story. In the first half Isabella, herself a former Creole slave, holds the young Spanish man prisoner. In the following fifty pages she becomes his prisoner, exploring some interesting psychological implications about control in male female relationships. We are at sea, literally and figuratively, and like the green waves, this adventure tale suggests multiple depths. But not to worry, there is also the requisite, rousing pirate-finale. Will Isabella fulfill her mother's strange prophecy? Will the two enemies somehow unite? And what about the infamous Yellow Jacket? "Full sail ahead! We'll see who's left standing at the end of the day."

I'm not sure who the market audience for this book might be. But I do know Robert Louis Stevenson would have loved this book. I sure did.

A surprising sea novel
Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 13) for Reader Views (6/07)

The book starts out when Isabella, the captain of the pirate ship "Marèe Rouge," is attempting to capture the "Ana Maria." When the "Ana Maria" is destroyed due to a mysterious explosion, one of the prisoners is discovered to be an emissary from the king of Spain to Viceroy Rodriguez, the officer in charge of "El Morro," the Spanish Prison. While she, Jean-Michael, and her boat swain, Mr. Stiles, are discussing what went wrong, the prisoner, Juan Carlos de Santa Ana., is brought in. After a series of verbal duels, they came to realize that the prisoner was not just a prisoner, but a man with a cunning wit. Then, on their way back to Panther Bay, they are visited by Captain Yellowjacket of "The Wasp." He is a trickster and traitor "playing both sides for fools." When they arrive at Panther Bay, there is a mutiny led by Mr. Stiles. After the mutiny, Isabella and Jean-Michael find themselves washed up on shore injured and alone. Isabella, The Pirate of Panther Bay and her lieutenant escape, Spanish imprisonment, take back her ship, and stopped falling in love with Juan Carlos de Santa Ana just after six months of losing her former lover. Can she do all this while fulfilling the prophecy of her mother, ridding the Spanish Main of the Spanish?

"The Pirate of Panther Bay" is expertly written by S.R. Stanley and is a unique book with an old theme. The author makes use with mainly English, some Spanish, and some French for originality and to accentuate the characters. This book is for ages 13 and up. Its themes are pirates, ships, and romance. If you are looking for an expertly written, unique, and original pirate-themed book, then this is book for you.

The Pirate of Panther Bay
SR Staley transports you back to a time when the flapping of canvas, the roar of ships canon, and the flash of cutlasses are seen through the smell of gunpowder and smoke. The pirate of Panther Bay, the young Isabella, prowls the seas. She is dogged by a Spanish man-o-war commanded by a dashing young Spaniard who also commands her heart. A great adventure romance! Robert Breen