Swashbucklers
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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 ]
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
