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?

I’m scanning my shelves & trying to figure out if I’ve ever read a pure adventure novel. Sure, there’s always plenty of adventure in the books I read, but I’m not sure I’d describe many of them as an “adventure novel.”

Until now.

Dan Hanks’ debut novel, CAPTAIN MOXLEY AND THE EMBERS OF THE EMPIRE is like the big screen popcorn movie you wish you could’ve seen this summer. A veritable love letter to things like the Indiana Jones trilogy and Tomb Raider and The Mummy, Hanks delivers a compulsive page turner with a ton of heart. This book also asks some challenging questions of the reader, and I had to stop myself a couple times and be like….wait…wait…WAS INDIANA JONES THE BAD GUY?

….WAS INDIANA JONES AN ARCHAEOLOGIST OR A THIEF?!

The titular Captain Samatha Moxley is our hero. A veteran pilot who fought in WWII, we catch up with Sam in the 1950’s as she deftly crashes…er…lands a plane smack in the middle of New York City. She’s there to meet with her sister Jess, an archaeologist. It seems Jess has caught the attention of The Nine, a shadowy American government organization that Sam herself was once connected to. Jess has come into possession of a precious & coveted artifact, which sets off this story’s global adventure!

Look, there’s a whole ton of cool shit happening in this book. I mean…bus chases. Punching Nazis. A trip through the catacombs of Paris (As Above, So Below vibes strong), Intricate puzzles where one wrong move SPELLS DOOM. Oh, and a healthy dose of NECROMANCY, because why the hell not. Hanks pulls out all the stops & packs this book with one epic, cinematic scene after another, and the overall result is this breathless, escapist treat.

And Sam Moxley is a pretty delightful protagonist, to be sure. She has a bit of a weary I’m Too Old For This Shit vibe which I really enjoyed. And as I mentioned in the beginning of the review, this book had me questioning the very nature of Indiana Jones, because that’s what Sam Moxley would do. Like, as far as she’s concerned, it’s all well & good searching for these treasures (until it almost kills you), but she is the first person to raise the question of who takes ownership over these items. Does it belong in a museum? Which museum? And why?

It’s an interesting spin on the tried & true globetrotting treasure hunter formula, and made the story feel especially relevant right now.

This was a ton of fun, and I really hope we get to see more of Sam Moxley going forward! There’s a really interesting dynamic between her & Jess, which sits at the heart of the book, and which I’m sure will be explored even further in any future Sam Moxley adventures.

Big thanks to Angry Robot for sending a copy my way!!