Dead Reckoning

“Lawlor paints her char­ac­ters with a fine-tipped brush. Fran­cis Drake, a bril­liant naval hero was also a cru­el pirate dri­ven by greed as well as glo­ry. … Lawlor has ably done her research.” (Chica­go Sun-Times, 24 Jul 2005, 9B)

“…a cap­ti­vat­ing and com­pelling adven­ture of a young man caught in a whirlpool of ter­ri­ble, trau­mat­ic events.” (Evanston Round Table, 24 Aug 2005, p 17)

“…the sto­ry is authen­tic and har­row­ing, and the his­tor­i­cal details are well done. This book would be per­fect for old­er teens who love his­tor­i­cal fic­tion, or want more on pirates.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“This is dark­er than most YA fic­tion, but high­ly real­is­tic; it will cer­tain­ly appeal to YAs who like real­is­tic his­tor­i­cal fic­tion, espe­cial­ly sea adven­tures.” (KLIATT)

“Real­is­tic, well-researched his­tor­i­cal nov­el … [pro­vides] vivid insights into the char­ac­ter of Fran­cis Drake.” (VOYA)

“Based as close­ly as pos­si­ble on the some­times-scant his­tor­i­cal record, Lawlor’s work is full of adven­ture and live­ly detail; a sol­id after­word and author’s note con­tin­ue the sto­ry.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“…ambi­tious Fran­cis push­es for­ward to achieve his goal of ‘girdling the globe.’ Lawlor’s obvi­ous­ly exhaus­tive research comes through. [Lawlor’s account] will appeal to read­ers…” (Book­list)