BOOK REVIEW | CAPTAIN MOXLEY AND THE EMBERS OF EMPIRE | DAN HANKS

ABOUT THE BOOK

An ex-Spitfire pilot is dragged into a race against a shadowy government agency to unlock the secrets of the lost empire of Atlantis...

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 civilisation-destroying weapon doesn't fall into the wrong hands. But what will she have to sacrifice to save the world?

REVIEW

Harking back to the adventuring days of the Thirties and Indiana Jones, Captain Moxley and the Embers of Empire is a fast paced tale of a race to find the famed lost city of Atlantis.

Set in 1952, Captain Moxley and The Embers of Empire takes place after World War 2 as the world is rebuilding itself and America is exerting its dominance on the world stage. At the beginning of the book, Captain Samantha Moxley is a former ace fighter pilot in World War 2 who is recruited by a shadowy American agency called the Nine. Skip forward a few years and she has left the clandestine agency life and is now doing all that she can to thwart their operations. 

After an operation goes wrong she stumbles on a plot to acquire relics that will lead to a mythical source of power that could have an effect on the whole world. 

The book trundles along at a terrific pace and is chock full of one set piece after another, each one putting our eponymous hero in one precarious position after another as she battles ex - nazis, a clandestine agency, her ex - boyfriend and her own sister. 

The story is enjoyable enough and the plot is undoubtedly pacey, but unfortunately there is little substance to the tale overall. The characterisation of the main players are sacrificed for as many set pieces as can be logistically crammed into the book and ultimately, the story left little impression.