Nazis! Ancient civilizations! Secret Governments! Cracking Adventure! These are just a few of the elements of Dan Hanks’s debut novel, Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire. From the great cover and what is evoked by the description below, you could easily consider this a gender-swapped Indiana Jones story, but if you did, you’d be selling it short. Hanks has a lot more to offer in his novel (and hopefully launch of a series).
In post-war 1952, the good guys are supposed to have won. But not everything is as it seems when ex-Spitfire pilot Captain Samantha Moxley is dragged into a fight against the shadowy US government agency she used to work for. Now, with former Nazis and otherworldly monsters on her trail, Captain Moxley is forced into protecting her archaeologist sister in a race to retrieve two ancient keys that will unlock the secrets of a long-lost empire – to ensure a civilization-destroying weapon doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. But what will she have to sacrifice to save the world?
The Nazis have been defeated but they are not gone. Former RAF Spitfire pilot Captain Samantha Moxley is something of a treasure hunter and on the run from a clandestine organization – The Nine – of which she once was a member. When she returns to London after a typically crazy adventure, she’s immediately enveloped in another adventure. Invited to the London Museum for the unveiling of a “discovered” relic, Captain Moxley realizes her sister and new beau are responsible for finding this artifact of an ancient civilization. It isn’t long before Samantha’s former allies in the form of the Nine and still surviving Nazis arrive hoping to steal the artifact. Samantha and her crew are transported to Egypt where they are (of course) split up and must escape and recover the artifacts stolen from them in order to prevent their use in unleashing a powerful weapon from an ancient civilization.
This is one hell of a fun story, Hanks embraces all the tropes (Nazis, artifacts, fast-paced adventure) of the pulpy story he’s telling and polishes them anew with his own voice. At the forefront of the novel and the display of Hanks’s skill is the characterization of Samantha and her sister Jess. Samantha is an over-the-top, larger than life character. She’s headstrong, smart, extremely capable, can hold her own in a fight, and has seen some crazy stuff in the life she led before we meet her in the pages of this novel. In other words, Captain Samantha Moxley is a fully-realized and engaging character. Her sister fits the mold of the typical younger sister string to break out of the shadow of the older sibling. I was most reminded of the sisterly relationship in A League of Their Own where Geena Davis played the older sister to Lori Petty. I don’t think Jess is quite as annoying as the younger sister in that baseball-themed movie and Hanks does a nice job of building empathy for Jess’s plight in regard to the whole sibling rivalry element even if her stubbornness was (intentionally) frustrating. Again, this just goes to show that Hanks has done a nice job of constructing a well-rounded character.
The male characters, the Moxley father; their friend Teddy the bookish archaeologist; and Will, Jess’s paramour offer a nice rounding out of the supporting cast. The Villains of the piece, a former Nazi only known as “Smith” is a force of evil. On the other hand, Samantha’s former lover and current member of The Nine – Jack – fits the role of affable and charming, almost empathetic villain. There’s definitely more to him and his group The Nine than revealed in this first novel, and I’d definitely like to learn about him, more of his past with Samantha, and a better sense of The Nine.
As for the pacing and brisk action, Hanks has that nailed down quite nicely, too. I ripped through this novel in only a few days and had a hard time setting it aside. He structures the novel really nicely, each chapter is an almost perfect, digestible length which allows for both feeling a sense of accomplishment when finishing a chapter, but enough of a hook to keep you reading.
I know I referenced Indiana Jones at the top of this review, but the more I read, the more I was put in the mindset of Marvel’s Agent Carter, a fun show that packed a lot of post World War II pulp onto the screen. Hell, I’d love to see the actress who portrayed Agent Carter – Hayley Atwell – portray Samantha Moxley because that’s who I kept picturing in my head as the character.
If it isn’t clear by now, I enjoyed Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire a great deal. Hanks has some great writing and storytelling chops and I hope there’s more to come from him.
Recommended
© 2020 Rob H. Bedford
Published by Angry Robot Books | September 2020 | https://www.danhanks.com/
Excerpt: https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/shop/year/2020/captain-moxley-and-the-embers-of-the-empire/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Angry Robot Books
