The Fishhook Rebellion: Hawai'i 1847 is a work of fiction in the historical and adventure subgenres, and it is part of the Swift and Dancer adventure series. It is best suited to the general adult reading audience and was penned by Dan Gooder Richard. Following on from The Good or Evil Side, we find ourselves reunited with Samantha Swift and Jack Dancer as these epic explorers cross paths once more on another globetrotting quest. Whilst Swift has her stories to chase and Jack has a mission in mind, they’re thrown together in the middle of a powerful and dangerous dispute over the fabled Malta treasure of Napoleon.

Dan Gooder Richard has a keen sense of pace and suspense, and that pays dividends in this fantastic adventure novel because he knows just when to unleash a crucial moment of action or exposition that tips the scales in every nail-biting scene. There are plenty of chases, far-flung locations, discoveries, and scuffles in this epic-length novel, and I could easily see adventure fans getting immersed for days on end in Jack and Samantha’s exploits. I also really enjoyed the way that the romantic threads of the tale are downplayed, especially at the beginning, leaving room for the plot to develop properly before emotions and true feelings start to bubble up to the surface. I would certainly recommend The Fishhook Rebellion as a tremendous read for anyone keen on pacy, immersive adventures with likable and capable protagonists.

The Mexican war is not going so well and as things stand, the United States treasury is about to run dry. To prevent this disaster a top-secret mission is sanctioned by President Polk's inner circle to find a fabled treasure of gargantuan proportions. Jack Dancer is the man assigned to this perplexing task which would take him across continents as he tracks the last known journey of the famous French mariner, Gagnon LeGrand. Unbeknownst to Dancer's backers, trouble is brewing much closer to home as a usurper exacts his revenge by taking possession of the throne on the Hawaiian Islands. Expect sparks to fly in a battle of wits and gunboat diplomacy in The Fishhook Rebellion: Hawai'i 1847 (A Swift & Dancer Adventure) by Dan Gooder Richard.

The action is nonstop while the pace is breathtaking in Dan Gooder Richard's historic novel. The attention to detail when it comes to the minor aspects of the era involved is impressive and I have to admit Dan's style of storytelling added an aura of mystery to the outcome of this fascinating story. The character development is deep and the research that went into them is quite thorough. Dancer fits the description of the classic go-to man for all occasions and Swift's investigative snooping creates an intriguing subplot. Following their escapades in this novel was a satisfying experience for me. For a novel with a lot of simultaneously moving parts, Dan Gooder Richard does an excellent job of interlacing high-stakes international intrigue with a good old-fashioned tale of honor and revenge. The Fishhook Rebellion is a novel worthy of the tag of being a bestseller in a class of its own.

The Fishhook Rebellion: Hawai'i 1847 is the sequel to The Good or Evil Side in Dan Gooder Richard's A Swift & Dancer Adventure series. Samantha Swift and Jack Dancer meet again in different circumstances but in the same roles they had from book one. Dancer is, simply, a spy for the American government. He is an agent in an impressive chain of command that requires him to find and retrieve a lost treasure. Swift is also an undercover operative, but not in the same way Dancer is. She is a reporter who is not scared of the danger of being deep undercover for a story and is brave enough to love its pursuit. Individually Swift and Dancer are capable, but together, they are unstoppable as they look for a treasure beyond imagination.

I fell in love with The Fishhook Rebellion almost from the start of the read. Dan Gooder Richard leaves breadcrumbs for readers to follow that start at a bordello and end in a lost city, with lengthy ocean crossings in between. The action sequences carry the story, and when Swift and/or Dancer confront danger from underhanded antagonists or the unpredictability of nature and the ocean, Richard never provides an easy way out. My favorite part is when Swift and Dancer battle to save the life of a Hawaiian king, and the tossing of 19th-century coconut Molotov cocktails at retreating canoes reads like the best classic literature, worthy of comparison to writers like Johann David Wyss. The Fishhook Rebellion is an excellent read.

The Fishhook Rebellion: Hawai'i 1847 by Dan Gooder Richard is a historical adventure novel and the second book in the Swift and Dancer Adventure series, and follows the acclaimed The Good or Evil Side. This installment continues to follow Samantha Swift, a journalist for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle who always seems to be at the right place at the wrong time for a scoop, and Jack Dancer, an operative on a mission for none other than the protégé of Andrew Jackson, President James Polk. The American war chest is empty and a long-lost treasure might just save an entire nation, but the same could be said for France, who also have men on the chase. Swift is chasing a story where human sex trafficking, missing women, and drugs are as precious to trade in as Egyptian coins and rubies. After scouring continents, being tossed to the sharks, stopping double agents, losing an impressive mustache, and pond-hopping the Hawaiian islands, Swift and Dancer pair up to save many different things, including themselves.

If there is one thing that can be said about Dan Gooder Richard, it's that he can weave tension into any scene. Both Samantha Smith and Jack Dancer are well-established characters that feel fully fleshed out. The adventure of The Fishhook Rebellion: Hawai'i 1847 reads perfectly well as a standalone, but missing out on The Good or Evil Side would be a pity. I am particularly drawn to Swift, a female protagonist who is fearless and aggressively pursues her work while navigating the conventions of a day and age where women were in petticoats. The infiltration of a pleasure house that ultimately leads to Dancer and his American mission is fantastic. As before, the narrative is engrossing and exceptionally well written, the dialogue is intelligent and witty, and the scenes across the globe are as cinematic as a book can get. Another great novel and highly recommended.