The Devil's Footprint: Rescue of the Innocents

The Adventures of Natalie Brennan #3

by Anthony R. Fanning

Piers and Cathleen Satterfield, siblings to Natalie Brennan, have been kidnapped by the ruthless Captain William Abraham. Joan Satterfield must pay the ransom demand of risk having her children dismembered and killed. Enlisting the aid of her estranged daughter-in-law, Natalie Brennan, she is determined to rescue Piers and Cathleen. With no promise of reward or treasure, Natalie and her step-mother are joined by Black John and Bill in search of the fierce pirates. From Charles Town to Nassau to Philadelphia, the small but determined crew sails in search of the helpless children. With the help of a desperate young stowaway Natalie puts her plan in motion and sets off on her boldest adventure yet. Set sail once again with the girl who never gives up and never gives in. Follow the perils faced by her young brother and sister as they learn to cope with a crew of sinister pirates. Discover the spirit which moves them all to push ever forward to face the greatest challenge of their lives.

294 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2010

About the author

I write books featuring women with strength, fortitude, and conviction. Not bodice rippers or tales about women who manipulate men into doing their work for them. I write about women I know, and have known all my life.

Well, I didn't choose writing as a profession, writing sort of chose me. I worked in an office for years, and then got a late start as a firefighter/paramedic on the busiest department in the area. I may be getting a little old for dragging a hose into a burning building, but I can lead a crew in saving a gunshot victim with the best of them. As for the writing: the whole thing snuck up one day.

I was standing on the beach on Ocracoke Island and looking out over the ocean and considering that Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, once sailed along those very shores. A series of stories came into my head as if on the wind - The Adventures of Natalie Brennan. Tales of a young girl during the Golden Age of Piracy with an ample supply of swash-swash-buckle-buckle, starting with "Natalie's Good Fortune."

Another time I happened upon a video of a man out firing a Lewis machine gun, holding it up like a rifle. I wondered if a woman could handle that thing as well, and thought she woud have to be strong. The next thing I knew I was writing a futuristic sci-fi dystopian adventure entitled "The Cyclone Wars."

One of hobbies is photography, and my favorite thing to do is outfit people and photograph them. Recently, I've been doing a lot of 'old west' style photos. However, one day I saw a photo of a young woman in a summer dress and cowboy boots sitting in an old truck. I thought I'd do a similar shoot, and so wrangled one of my favorite subjects to throw on a beat up bull rider hat, some cowboy boots, cut-off jeans, and a plaid shirt to sit in my old truck. I added a bottle of bourbon and a pistol and we had fun with the shoot. My sister saw some of the photos and asked me, "Is that a prelude to another book?" All of a sudden I was writing "The Thin Gray Line."

And so it goes. Being an Indie author, I'll not be quitting my regular job anytime soon since the book sales are just enough that I can justify to my wife that I spend the time writing and not painting the house. I also tend to like to leave copies of my books here and there when I travel, especially when we go back to the OBX, which is almost every year. If you happen to vacation at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and stay in a house on the oceanside beach, check the book shelves for copies of my books. It'll give you something to do if it's raining

Reviews

[Milly]

I am devouring this series! This book has got so much going on, it's almost like two books in one. Natalie's step-brother and step-sister have been kidnapped and their mother asks Natalie to rescue them because there is nobody else. The story kind of flips back and forth from the kids interacting with the pirates and the activity aboard Natalie's boat. Both are a lot of fun. The kids are spirited and sassy, especially the daughter. The kid's mother joins Natalie on her boat, and I got to see this woman in a whole new light! She is strong and determined, and not the prissy rich girl I originally thought. Also, I really like the way Natalie's nemesis, Piney Wood, keeps turning up. That guy ... you'd think he'd know better than to mess with her by now.

[Shelly Lane]

This was another fun book! The story kind of flips back and forth between what Natalie is doing and what's going on with her siblings, who are drawn into the story by pirates with a ransom plot. I really really like the way the book explores the relationships between the characters. I've read others that focused so much on one characters self-indulgence, or went into so much detail about the surroundings they became tiresome. So far tho, this series is more about people, and how far they will go to protect or rescue each other. Real storytelling.

[Julie]

This book was not quite as engaging as the first two in the series. However it was still a good book. There are more in this series after this one.

[LizetteMonet]

I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I enjoyed Natalie's Good Fortune, and DEFINITELY more than the Isle of Lost Souls, the first and second novels in The Adventures of Natalie Brennan series. The Devil's Footprint, had a stronger sense of purpose and flowed a whole lot better than the Isle of Lost Souls, and was executed much better in regards to character development, than Natalie's Good Fortune. The text didn't come off as so overly written and tortured. There was some space left for me to be able to drift and sigh along with the story. Something that was missing from the previous two books.
There were moments of forehead slapping repetitive emphasis in the beginning, like with Joan Satterfield's social class being pointed out in almost every scene that she was in, and Bill constantly going on about spanking someone's fanny, but by the middle of the book, that had died down.


I loved the scenes with the children, Piers and Catherine, Natalie's half brother and sister. I felt like those moments were the most pure, and I enjoyed seeing them rise to the occassion and actually fight back against their captors, without using overly drawn out sentences.

There WERE moments were I sort've rolled my eyes, because I am a girl. :p (like the tub scene and the naked horse back riding scene) I understand what the author was trying to convey with that last scene, freedom and independance, but all I could think about was, ow ow ow.
I also didn't like how the Satterfields ending was so rushed and thrown together in a little paragraph, considering the central plot is about the Satterfield children. If anything, that could have been left out for the next book, because there surely WILL BE a 4th one.

But overall, I would say this is a neat read, that gave just enough excitement to keep me going.

[Boris]

Another enjoyable read on Natalie Brennan and nautical lore and adventure in the early 18th century. More background on the characters of the first two books is developed which lends a greater depth to the story.