
Where Loyalties Lie
Best Laid Plans, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Jackson
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By:
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Rob J. Hayes
Winner of Mark Lawrence's 3rd Self Published Fantasy Blog Off
Finalist in BookNest's 2017 Fantasy Awards
Nominated for a r/Fantasy Best of 2017 Stabby Award
"Feels exactly like a world populated by pirates should; fun and vulgar and more than a little dangerous." (BookNest)
Everyone knows Drake Morrass is only out for himself.
As the fires of a dying city burn on a distant shore, Drake sees an opportunity to unite the other pirate captains under his flag and claim himself a crown.
If he is to succeed he will need allies and credibility. Who better than gentleman pirate, Keelin Stillwater, renowned for taking ships without bloodshed, as well as his skill with a sword.
Enemy ships sail their waters, setting the Pirate Isles ablaze. The sinister Tanner Black threatens to steal the throne before Drake has even sat in it. Now Drake must somehow convince the other pirate captains that his best interests are also theirs.
Dive into this swashbuckling adventure today!
©2017 Rob J. Hayes (P)2019 Rob J. HayesListeners also enjoyed...




















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The premise is Drake Morass, professional conman and pirate, has decided he's getting along in his years so it's time to think about retirement. Retirement plans for a man who was lovers with the Dragon Empress and who has literally sold his own mother into slavery are a bit more grandiose than for most, though. Drake Morass wishes to be a king and not just a king but one who rules over a nation of pirates in the setting's Carribean equivalent. There's just one problem: everyone who knows Drake Morass knows he's a scheming piece of garbage. A man's word may not mean much among scurvy seadogs but his means less than anyone's.
To this end, Drake Morass recruits gentleman pirate Keelin. Keelin is something of a stereotype even in-universe as he's a former nobleman who went on the high seas to get revenge on his enemies. He's a man of his word and a man who tries to maintain civil standards above being a murderous bandit. In other words, he's the perfect patsy to make it look like Drake is out for anyone other than himself. Keelin is also, notably, lovers with Elaina Black--the world's most famous she-pirate and daughter of Tanner Black. Tanner is the man who actually IS close to being the pirate's king and knows better than to try something as stupid as Drake is planning.
Where Loyalties Lie is clearly inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies but it also draws a great deal from the historical attempt at creating a pirate nation in Nassau. For those unfamiliar with it (or Assassins Creed: Black Flag), that was where the pirates of the age took over the island and attempted to create their own Republic. Unlike the Disney movies, this is a book clearly written for adults with language, sex, and visceral violence. There's also a short rape scene in the book which, while plot relevant, made my stomach turn and is the only reason this book isn't a 5 out of 5.
While I don't think fantasy is overclocked with Medieval European settings, I do like when the genre branches out and pirates are an underdone setting for stories about magic as well as monsters. They should go together like peanut butter and jelly with this novel making excellent use of his fantasy world as well as it's politics to create a dynamic interesting plot. The fact Drake's plan to create his own kingdom is entirely selfish and the book makes no attempt to soften its sociopathic antihero also means I didn't know who would win out. I was as much rooting for the people opposed to Drake Morass as the people he'd duped into following him.
The characters are dynamic, the situations interesting, and the writing crisp. There's never a dull moment in the novel and there's numerous twists I didn't expect. Also, much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the book's love triangle between Keelin, Elaina, and Aimi. Keelin desperately wants to become a respectable gentleman again and that leads him to question his relationship with Captain Black. Unfortunately, Aimi wants to break away from the very respectability he craves. In a story about king-making, piracy, politics, and murder--this is a surprisingly engrossing story.
In conclusion, I strongly recommend readers who like their fantasy a bit more on the gritty side to check this work out. It's not for the faint of heart but that's part of why it's so enjoyable and why I intend to pick up the next volume. I strongly recommend the audiobook edition of this title as narrated by Matthew Jackson as it is extremely well done with a consistent dramatic read.
Some of the best fantasy of the past decade
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Listener received this title free
Really enjoyed the story. I received this Audiobook for free in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks.
Well worth a credit!!
To Retire as a Pirate King!
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The story mainly follows Captain Drake Morass(get it?) and Captain Keelin Stillwater but there are a lot of other characters that also play prominent roles. The story takes place in the pirate Isles a region of the seas with islands populated mostly by Pirates and people who want to be free from the rule of other countries. These other countries have sent out ships recently to eradicate the pirate problem and Drake Morass believes all the pirates must band together to survive and set up there own kingdom, of course he wants to set himself up as the King, The only problem is that another rival the very brutal and evil Captain Black will never join forces with him and has his own designs.
The narration by Matthew Jackson is spot on and he does some great pirate voices without going over the top. I like how there is a lot going on between each faction and Captain and how there is a lot of politics even in the Pirate World. This is definitely an adult book and there is a small rape scene in the book which can definitely be off putting to a lot of people as it is pretty brutal, it is plot driven and is there to show how messed up a certain character is and why another certain character has been through and it goes to explain why she is the way she is.
I would definitely recommend this book and am interested in reading the next in the series and am very curious about the previous series of novels.
"Please note I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
Quest to become King of the Pirates
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Listener received this title free
I was given this audiobook for free at my request and I provided this review voluntarily.
Grimdark Pirate Fantasy
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Pros: Exciting story with gripping (and grasping!!!!) characters. The sea is salty, the battles are brash and bashing. The characters are conflicted. The sex is part of the plot, not merely gratuitous.The actions moves from plans to battles and negotiations. The protagonist Drake is mixed in his actions, yet he is following a prophecy that was passed along by his brother. His brother also sends a woman with magical powers to watch his back. Keelin Stillwater didn't really want to follow Drake, but the circumstances seem to give him no other choice. So he does. They are pirates, so they both do exciting piratical deeds, but they both try to live with themselves. So like many a contemporary situation, "it's complicated"--which is definitely good.
Cons: I'm not really over-joyed at the Narrator. Matthew Jackson's voice keeps taking me out of the story into noticing his accents and projecting volume. There is graphic sex. I think it manages to stay outside porn, but it's close. Imagine scenes from the movie Flesh and Blood with Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh, except fewer minutes in the acts themselves. This will be off-putting for some listeners, and a feature for some listeners. The last negative to mention is that this is book one of a two book series. It ends with two and possibly three cliff hangers. While the book is very good, it is not stand alone. Not even a little bit.
Still, this reader / listener will be getting book two to continue the story.
Gritty Swash Buckling with a few drops of magic
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I enjoyed this tale about pirates with a little magic thrown in. Characters were well developed and interesting. After the first several chapters during which the world was established, it was fast paced and action packed. The author did a good job describing the scenes, and with the dialogue. There was some NSFW activity, but aside from one instance which I will discuss next, it wasn’t over the top from my perspective. The one exception was an instance of sexual violence, which was brief but graphic (easily skipped). This scene was establishing a complex interaction.
Narration was good, but some additional editing may have helped. There were a number of lines repeated throughout the book, not enough to be a distraction, but it was noticeable.
Fun Pirate Tale... Action Packed
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This copy was obtained free through Audiobook Boom in exchange for an unbiased review. Perhaps I was expecting a little too much when I imagined this book as sort of an epic grimdark fantasy treatment of David Cordingly's wonderfully fascinating nonfiction book 'Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates'.
It isn't quite that, and the book focuses instead on the tribulations of an ambitious, social-climbing sociopathic pirate rather than on pirate life in general. The characters in the book were interesting enough, though I kept hoping that gentleman pirate Keelin Stillwater would turn out to be as compelling an anti-hero as the charismatic, mostly successful real-life gentleman pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts instead of the rather disappointingly bland patsy of the aptly named Captain Drake Morass.
The narrator has a pleasant voice and he reads quite well, though would, in my opinion, be better suited to reading nonfiction or classic fiction - I kept envisioning the pirates as civilized gentlemen sniping waspishly at each other over genteel cups of Earl Grey rather than as violent, largely ill-educated, desperate men, which was disconcerting and took awhile to get used to. I would happily listen to more of his work, though perhaps not in this particular genre.
Despite all these issues though, this book is still quite entertaining, and well worth the listen. Also, if you do decide to give this book a try and like it well enough, be prepared to read book 2 - this is only the first book of a duology, after all.
3.5 stars
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While the writing and characterization are top notch, this book is not for everyone. There is a large amount of offensive and mature content as the book contains graphic violence and sex, rape, homosexuality, torture, drug addition, drinking, and more.
The narration in the audio version is excellent and brings the book to life, however, it needs to be edited as there are a number of parts that repeat themselves.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Pulls you into its depts
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The writing was excellent, the characters are all well developed nuanced people with goals and attachments of their own, the pacing is excellent and moves swiftly, the intrigue was believable, and the adventure was exciting. We need more books like this.
The narration was excellent, the accents and dialect shifts all sounded natural and realistic.
I don't want to put to much into this review as I said there is a lot of intrigue in this book so I don't want to provide any spoilers.
If you like pirates and scoundrels and aren't squeamish, get this book.
** I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, my review is voluntary and unbiased.
Ah Pirates Pirating
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The narrator was alright, but there were a couple of issues with repetition and I'm not sure he was the best to do this kind of story. But I listened through til the end and still very much enjoyed myself regardless so YMMV.
I received the review code for this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review.
Gritty Pirate Yarn
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