Swashbucklers

by Dan Hanks

Overview

When Cisco Collins returns to his home town thirty years after saving it from being swallowed by a hell mouth opened by an ancient pirate ghost, he realises that being a childhood hero isn't like it was in the movies. Especially when nobody remembers the heroic bits – even the friends who once fought alongside him.

Struggling with single parenting and treated as bit of a joke, Cisco isn't really in the Christmas spirit like everyone else. A fact that's made worse by the tendrils of the pirate's powers creeping back into our world and people beginning to die in bizarre ways. 

With the help of a talking fox, an enchanted forest, a long-lost friend haunting his dreams, and some 80s video game consoles turned into weapons, Cisco must now convince his friends to once again help him save the day. Yet they quickly discover that being a ghostbusting hero is so much easier when you don't have schools runs, parent evenings, and nativity plays to attend. And even in the middle of a supernatural battle, you always need to bring snacks and wipes...

File Under: Fantasy [Parenting Hacks | Candy Caning | Boss Fight | Playing with Power ]

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857669384
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	484,626
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dan is a writer, editor, and vastly overqualified archaeologist who has lived everywhere from London to Hertfordshire to Manchester to Sydney, which explains the panic in his eyes anytime someone asks “where are you from?”. Thankfully he is now settled in the rolling green hills of the Peak District with his human family and fluffy sidekicks Indy and Maverick, where he writes books, screenplays and comics.

Editorial Reviews

07/26/2021

Hanks (Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire) combines sci-fi and fantasy elements into an energetic cross-genre romp. As teens, friends Cisco, Jake, Dorothy, and Michelle saved the town of Dark Peak, England, from the villainous Deadman’s Grin—though they have little memory of how. Single father Cisco, now in his 40s and recently divorced, returns to Dark Peak to reunite with his friends and unravel the lingering mystery from 32 years ago. But the forces of darkness are stirring once more, led by a returned Deadman’s Grin. As strange phenomena sweep the town, Cisco and friends must draw on vague memories of their previous encounter with the Deadman’s Grin to vanquish evil once more. But this task is complicated as the four find that “this saving the world stuff just too hard as an adult” and struggle to balance their mission with their parenting duties. Hanks’s worldbuilding incorporates a plethora of ’80s pop culture references and borrowed ideas from genre classics. The result is a fun if familiar backdrop to the entertaining characters and their well-wrought relationships, but the story suffers from some glaring plot holes—including why these four are the chosen ones at all. Still, readers willing to overlook the flaws are in for a quirky adventure. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Combines sci-fi and fantasy elements into an energetic cross-genre romp"
– Publishers Weekly

"Swashbucklers brings all the magic of the 80’s back to life, and delivers a fun, action-packed tale with heart"
–  Fantasy Hive

"The middle-aged heroes of Swashbucklers are definitely getting too old for this shite, but to protect their families and the town they grew up in from the worst fears of their youth, they are game to try.  Dan's page-turning second novel proves it's not always possible – or wise – to put aside childish things. A great read!"
– R.W.W.Greene, author of The Light Years

"Swashbucklers is literally a nostalgia-inducing, pop culture acid-trip where the hometown kids reunite as middle-aged Goonies" 
– Patricia A. Jackson, author of Forging a Nightmare

“With Swashbucklers, Dan Hanks puts forty-year-old characters in an action-packed fantastical story designed for the fitness level of teenagers and sees if they can keep up. They can't. And it's an awesome formula for fun.”
– Chris Panatier, author of The Phlebotomist

"Packed with heart, wit, and plenty of action, Swashbucklers is the sequel to all your favorite childhood adventures. Hanks at the top of his game!"
– Reese Hogan, author of Shrouded Loyalties

“Swashbucklers is a reminiscent romp through the 80’s, filled with retro-goodness. If you’re enamored by the age of video arcades and MTV, you will feel an instant camaraderie with the heroes in this book, who seek to defeat the same evil that almost destroyed their world as children. In Swashbucklers, Hanks has done a lovely job at giving us a villian to hate and a lovable group of aging heroes to cheer on.”   
– Ginger Smith, author of The Rush’s Edge

“A team of world-saving teenage misfits is again called upon in their middle age to once more face the nightmare-inducing villain, while juggling school runs, work and housework. Hilarious and poignant, loved it!”
– Gabriela Houston, author of The Second Bell

"It's discovering a box of memories tucked away in your attic. It's sipping tipple from your teenage years under a blanket. It's watching fireworks in your favourite jumper. It reads like Stephen King on steroids. Stranger Things meets It meets The Goonies. I want to hear this story told late at night over a campfire, while the marshmallows go all gooey. "
– Caroline Hardaker, author of Composite Creatures


PRAISE FOR DAN HANKS

"Hanks packs his pulpy, energetic debut with gritty violence, snazzy super-science, and high-flying adventure."
– Publishers Weekly

“A serious creative talent and all-round nice guy.”
– Andrew Patrick, Former CEO, British Film Commission

"It's a giddy, white-knuckled ride to the very end.” 
– R.W.W. Greene author of The Light Years

“Dan Hanks delivers a rip-roaring pulp adventure full of supernatural artefacts and boobytraps, insurmountable odds, and irredeemable villains."
– Michael F. Haspil, author of Graveyard Shift

"So cinematic, you can taste the buttered popcorn."
–  S.A. Sidor, author of Fury from the Tomb

"Move over Indiana Jones, Captain Moxley has arrived and she won’t ask you twice!"
– Amanda Bridgeman, author of The Subjugate

"Buckle up and enjoy the ride!"
– Michael J. Martinez, author of The Daedalus Incident

"Hanks forces us to suspend reality, embrace the chaotic ride and revel in the fun-factor."
- Fantasy Faction

"Rolls along at break-neck pace...like a novelisation of a hit movie you never saw"
- Starburst Magazine


"References to contemporary political issues sit alongside nostalgic name drops of Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and The Goonies. The '80s trivia strikes a similar vibe to Ready Player One (2011), but here it’s a window into the fantastical worlds that sit alongside our own. A heartfelt, wacky tale beginning a potential series for fans of Stephen King's IT (1986) and anyone who’s wondered why there are so many unsupervised children in fantasy."
– Booklist

"A fun romp, ideal for fans of the cultural references and humor of Ghostbusters and Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One."
 – Library Journal

From the Publisher

11/01/2021

In Hanks's (Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire) contemporary fantasy, Cisco Collins returns to his childhood home in Dark Peak, England, to raise his son, reconnect to old friends, and revisit the truth about the Halloween night in 1989 when Cisco, Doc, Michelle, and Jake saved Dark Peak from the evil Deadman's Grin. Cisco seems to be the only one who remembers that night, though even his recall is spotty; now in their 40s, all four of the friends are dealing with their own kids and lost memories of their youth. When strange things start to happen again in Dark Peak, Cisco is convinced that the evil of Deadman's Grin is back. Now the four friends have one more responsibility to juggle, as they try to remember how they saved the town decades ago. Quirky characters and worldbuilding, lots of 1980s pop culture references, and themes of childhood and friendship combine in Hanks's interesting mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and coming-of-age-(again) story. VERDICT A fun romp, ideal for fans of the cultural references and humor of Ghostbusters and Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Library Journal