Beyond Beauport - James Masciarelli

Shannon Clarke raised a family and worked waterfront jobs in America’s oldest seaport. Her childhood dream to become a sea caption revises when her long-lost seafaring uncle, Patrick, visits with a salty tale of their maritime family ancestry of pirates and privateers. He shares family letters and artifacts from the Golden Age of Piracy. They take to the sea in Patrick’s brigantine to follow the siren song of their ancestors in quest of destiny, truth and treasure-a voyage fraught with raw forces of nature, past traumas and present day sea raiders. Their talents and beliefs of family, identity and purpose are shaken to the core.

“Masciarelli’s Beyond Beauport is a fast-moving read that keeps you on edge page after page! Sailing through Shannon Clarke’s adventures and lucid dreams returned me to Irving Johnson’s brigantine Yankee voyages! This tale of sea rovers, treasure, and adventure pulls you into this epic narrative.”
Ron Gilson, Author, An Island No More

“Full of deeply researched nautical tradition and seafaring lore, Beyond Beauport is about one woman’s quest to catch a second wind in life by letting her dreams fill her sails. If you like adventure, Caribbean seas and family intrigue, you’ll surely enjoy this tale.”
Katherine A. Sherbrooke, Author, Fill the Sky

“Jim Masciarelli’s mastery of plot, suspense, pacing, dialogue and story belies any sense that Beyond Beauport is his first novel. The history that frames this gripping narrative is impeccable. Embarking on this adventure with such appealing characters offers a pleasure that only the most well-crafted novels can provide.”
Peter Anastas, author, At the Cut

“When our intrepid heroes, Shannon Clarke and her uncle Paddy, sail off in search of pirate treasure in the mangrove islets off southwest Florida, they fall prey to a vicious syndicate of international smugglers. James Masciarelli has written a riveting and irresistible novel of adventure and intrigue on the high seas. Beyond Beauport will remind you of why you started reading stories in the first place: to be carried away to a world more vivid and, in this case, more frightening than the one you’re living in. Paddy and Shannon have room for one more mate on the Second Wind, and you have permission to board. You might want to keep that life jacket close by—the waters are a little rough ahead.”
John Dufresne, author, I Don’t Like Where This Is Going

“ Jim Masciarelli has crafted a unique contribution to American letters, an adventure saga that is sweeping in scope yet intensely personal. Beyond Beauport resonates intrigue from its first pages, and it does not disappoint in the delivery of a narrative that moves quickly through crests and valleys creating curiosity, suspense and fulfillment. But just as compelling is the personal journey of its main persona. Shannon Clarke may well emerge as one of the more memorable, fully formed and complex characters in modern literature. Her progressive levels of self-awareness and identity wed a compelling adventure to the universal processes of self-discovery. Masciarelli writes of time, place and history, and in the process has woven a lasting work that speaks to discovery that is both epic in scope, and deeply personal.”
Greg Fields, author, Arc of the Comet

“Loaded to the scuppers with history and intrigue, Beyond Beauport fastens a shackle to the heartstrings of the pirate in all of us, then pulls along in its powerful riptide of adventure! Bravo!”
Jim Tarantino, Gloucester Doryman

“From the working waterfront to the high seas, Beyond Beauport captures the nautical adventures of a Gloucester woman looking to catch a second wind. Shannon has salt in her veins and ancestors in her head, as she sails the eastern seaboard searching for the treasure of the fearless 18^th century pirate Anne Bonny, and hoping to find herself in the process. Full of history, geography, maritime life, storms, and recipes, Masciarelli has created an exciting tale of today’s woman at one with the sea.”
JoeAnn Hart, author, Float