Book Review: Captain Hawk by by S J Garland

The captain in the title role of this book is Nathaniel Hawk and if you like swashbucklers in stories and movies, this book is definitely for you. It immediately saw images of Horatio Hornblower and Richard Sharpe. Men, who know what is important to them and are willing to fight to reach their goal, sometimes against seemingly insurmountable odds.

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But let's start at the beginning. Nathaniel has a famous father, Sebastian Hawk, who works as a captain for the East India Company. And while son and father have differences of opinion more than they seem to agree, in the end, they are very similar in character. This comes out as the story evolves and young Nathaniel is for the first time in the life truly tested in terms of bravery and perseverance.

We are in Singapore in the early 1800's and Sebastian Hawk does not return from one of his frequent oceanic excursions. Rumor has it that Sebastian Hawk was killed in a battle with a ghost ship, myserious ships that seemingly come out of nowhere and destroyed his father's ship. Ghost ships and their tales have haunted sailors for centuries and continue their mystery until modern times. So what was supposed to be a simple holiday spend with his father, Nathanial now finds himself trying to solve the mystery that surrounds his father's death. Nathaniel, although predestined to join his father at sea as a captain, had chosen a career on land. But Nathaniel still can captain a shop and so he sets out to pursue the ghost ship and the question of how his father died.

Set during an exciting time for Singapore because of the burgeoning trade and written in great detail for historical developments, such as the fate of English traders in Singapore, this book will please everyone who loves historical novels. What helps this book is the ability of the author to capture the attention of the reader early on and never, and I mean absolutely never, let go. As an Anglophile, the very English character of the location and the people was extremely pleasing to me and I kept reading longer than I wanted each night just to get ahead and find out whether Nathaniel will be successful in his mission.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. The opinion expressed in this post is solely my own and has not been influenced by any third parties.