Format: Paperback, 380 pages
Release Date: September 8, 2020
Publisher: Angry Robot
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy / Historical
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 civilization-destroying weapon doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. But what will she have to sacrifice to save the world?
Dan Hanks' Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire is
the first installment in the authors yet to be named series featuring former
Spitfire fighter pilot Captain Samantha Moxley. Think Raiders of the Lost Ark,
meets the Mummy, meets Matthew O'Reilly's Jack Jr series with a female lead
with all sorts of issues. The story begins on the beaches of Normandy, 1945,
where Agents arrive looking for a woman who has been reported missing, presumed
dead, but somehow managed to fight with the French resistance against Nazi
Germany.
Flash forward to 1952. The war is over, the good guys
allegedly won, and she’s left the shady agency working for the Nine. But things
have a way of catching up with her. Her sister Jess has found an amazing relic,
(Isis amulet) and the shady agency known as the Nine, isn't impressed that
Moxley left, is also after it. Sam is used to fighting for her life. She fought
her way across occupied France racing Hitler for Europe's paranormal artifacts.
The Nine believes in the greater good no matter what. Forget the fact that they
recruited former Nazi's to work alongside of them.
Sam, her sister Jessica, who is an archaeologist, Doctor
William Sandford, curator of the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with
Professor Teddy Ascher an expert on all things Egypt, find themselves in an
action packed cinematic adventure to see who can get to the ultimate price;
Lost Empire of Atlantis. But to start, the Isis Amulet concerns a mythical lost
repository of knowledge known as the Hall of Records. The Hall is described as
a fortress that is protected by (2) keys, Isis, and Osiris, mother, and father
of ancient Egypt.
In order to find keys to Atlantis, Sam and her crew must
race against the Nine, who have a former Nazi who now works for the US
government, alien monsters and genetically enhanced soldiers all at her heels,
a petulant sister who doesn't know what Sam gave up to protect her, from the
catacombs of France to the pyramids of Giza. Atlantis has been on the minds of
many historians since it was allegedly destroyed by a cataclysm of
unprecedented historical proportions. Atlantis was a civilization beyond
anything we've ever seen. Vast networks of cities and outposts connected to
Atlantis.
Hanks represents Sam as a take-no-nonsense, feisty and
strong-willed character, yet she has her weaknesses too, her flaws. Years of
fighting have not left her unscathed. Sam’s overprotective nature towards her
sister and others, her blinding belief that they aren’t capable of keeping
themselves safe and her lack of trust ultimately leads to her unraveling and a
heart shattering ending with hopefully will lead to more adventures of Sam and
her war against the Nine. Hanks creates characters such as Agent Taylor and
Agent Smith to show us the damaging effects of a government who disguise
murder, theft, and the drive for absolute power under the notion of it being
‘for the greater good’.
I have to say, this book is like catnip to a reader who goes all in on stories like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and other cinematic masterpieces. I look forward to the sequel, because, there absolutely must be a sequel after that heart wrenching cliffhanger ending.
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