Halestorm

by Becky Akers

Could you choose between love and freedom?


Halestorm tells the story of the American Revolution’s most endearing Nathan Hale, the 21-year-old spy who "only regretted he had but one life to give for his country." Caught between honor and romance, Nathan must forfeit the woman he hopes to marry, even as a rival for her hand vows to win her at any cost. Their contest culminates in a British Artillery Park when Nathan hangs for espionage – but, in a surprising twist, still triumphs.


Filled with love and conflict, murder and betrayal, Halestorm whisks readers into an era of wrenching choices and extraordinary sacrifices. Novelist Becky Akers dramatizes the characters and period through meticulous research, clever dialogue, and a fast-moving plot whose climax will stir your deepest emotions.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, American Revolution, Romance

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 9, 2012

Reviews

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the pageant of American history, the American Revolution is the ultimate pivotal moment, and the bravery shown by the early patriots cannot be denied when they fought for what they believed in—freedom from government control and unfair taxation. Many of those patriots died before ever knowing their cause had succeeded. Among those martyrs to the cause of freedom was Nathan Hale, famous today for his final words, “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” But who was Nathan Hale really, and what motivated him to die so bravely?
Becky Akers has brought Nathan Hale’s past alive in her new novel Halestorm, a book with a clever pun in its title much like the puns she depicts Nathan Hale as having loved. In her Author’s Note at the book’s end, Akers admits she had to take a few liberties with her plot, but her fiction brings alive the time of the American Revolution in beautifully written prose and in a manner that nonfiction can never achieve.
Halestorm opens with Nathan Hale and his brother going off to college at Yale, while his stepsister Alice is deeply in love with him. Since Nathan’s brother and Alice’s sister have recently married, Nathan and Alice see no reason why their love cannot also have such a happy ending, but they soon find that their parents are greatly opposed to their marriage. Their attempts to be together and the obstacles that result—including Nathan’s promise to his father that he will not marry Alice—make for many twists and turns in the lovers’ lives.
Alice and Nathan’s love story is played out against the rising disgust in the colonies with the British government and the conflict between loyalists and patriots. Guy Daggett, a dashing young man who sides with the loyalists, soon becomes interested in Alice and stirs up trouble for the lovers while managing to look innocent at every turn. And as the conflict with the motherland develops, Nathan prepares himself inevitably to fight for the cause of freedom.
Akers succeeds in keeping the reader turning the pages, constantly interested in the characters and their fates, despite knowing from history that Nathan must die in the end. Throughout the story, I cheered for Nathan and Alice, booed the villains, and was amazed by all I learned about the American Revolution and colonial life.
As a historical novelist myself, I greatly appreciated Akers’ pacing and her research that she worked into the story to give it color and purpose while never lecturing or trying to teach the reader. Akers shines especially in writing dialogue, capturing the phrasing and sentiments of the period. The conversations between characters often made me stop and think, “What these people are upset about is the same situation we Americans are facing with our government today.” That Akers makes the novel so relevant to the present day without ever overtly stating the parallels is the true mark of an expert novelist. Halestorm is a novel to read and enjoy, but also a novel to learn from, reminding us not to cave into living with a government our forefathers would have rejected and gave their lives to free themselves from. I especially admired Akers’ use of dialogue to bring these comparisons between the past and present to life. Here is just a short sample:
“So you think we ought to take arms against the king, Master Hale?” The judge’s voice climbed so high this time it cracked. By now, everyone in the room was craning to see him. “That—that’s treason!”
Nathan shook his head. “We’re free English citizens, aren’t we? That means we have a contract with the government. We submit to it and obey the laws—”
“Hear, hear!”
“—long as—” He paused, allowing the tumult to die. “Long as king and Parliament honor their end of things. They’ve got to protect our lives, liberty, and property.”
“’Course, and that’s why the king disarmed that mob in Boston, to keep the peace, don’t you see.”
Nathan stood with arms akimbo. “How does a government impose its will on its subjects?” He waited for an answer, as if they were in class.
Zeke Simpson’s father obliged. “By force.”
“Yes, by force. We saw what happens when we don’t want to pay taxes. The king sends soldiers here, with guns, to force us to pay. Only way to resist is by bringing our own guns against those soldiers. The king knows that, so his army marched against the stores at Concord to disarm us. A government deprives the people of their rights, it’s a good bet they’ll rebel unless it disarms them first. Tyrants always disarm the people.”
“He’s right!” Mr. Simpson shouted. “’Twill be our death the day they have more muskets than us.”
Halestorm reveals just how relevant the issues of the American Revolution remain today. Akers’ realistic historical characters make difficult choices that affect their personal happiness and the future of an emerging nation. This stunning tale emphasizes the true cost of freedom and the debt we owe to those who make the sacrifice. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is proud to be an American, everyone who is a lover of history, and everyone who cares about America’s future.

- Tyler Tichelaar, author of the Spirit of the North and The Marquette Trilogy.

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book liking it, and then rather quickly I began to loathe it and quit reading it. It is vividly written and has a great pace. However, I found myself rooting for an immoral relationship, which bothered me. Also, the author took such great liberties with the actual historical facts to make a plot more soap opera like. Historical fiction appeals to me because I learn in an entertaining way. Reading historical falsehoods shatters the whole reason for reading the genre.

Furthermore, the author clearly has an anarchist view of government. She paints the Hale family and despising all government and seeing no purpose at all with government. Sorry, I don't believe the notion that the revolutionaries were seeking anarchy. The were seeking rule of law and representational government. They did not fight to create anarchy, which isn't a lasting solution anyway since the chaos from anarchy usually results in a tyrant stepping in to fill the void. The revolutionaries were seeking fair and representational government, which any twit who reads the actual historical documents and clearly worded Federalist Papers would know. I skipped ahead and read the afterword and sure enough the author admits to writing fast and loose with the historical facts and disparages the US constitution and founding fathers (Hamilton and Adams are "pompous twits" who "shackled" the colonists with a government.) Sorry, Ms, Akers, the pompous twit here is you for projecting anarchy as the desire of Nathan Hale.

If you like a soap opera and don't care about history or our constitution, then you'll like this book. It is well written and entertaining. However, if you are looking for historical fiction that rings true, this book isn't it.

[C.E. Thornton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Few books rates as low in my estimation as this one, and considering I had little expectation of it to begin with, that's saying something.

This story was, simply put, a disgrace. A slanderous disgrace to Nathan, his family, and his legacy. With a made-up nemesis, a mind-numbingly stupid heroine, over-the-top hero, and absolutely no respect to what Nathan really experienced in his final days.

There is a difference between historical fiction and farce, and when your disclaimer at the end of the book is almost as long as the book itself you know you've landed the latter. It's one thing to take a few licenses to make the story flow, but to simply tack a person's name onto your own twisted dark fantasy is pathetic.

I wish I could wipe this horrific excuse of a book from my mind as easily as I wiped it from my Kindle.

[Josephine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel I am being generous with the two stars. Akers writing flows nicely with lovely descriptions but the book moved slowly. Additionally, the poetic license taken with Hale's life just can't be overlooked. Not to mention, I find it wholly unbelievable her idealization of this American Hero. He is credited with an exceptionally famous quote, but his intelligence and eloquence doesn't mean that he was an annoyingly flawless individual. He could have been a brilliant cad for all that history genuinely knows of his character. Even if he was a genuinely decent person with upstanding morals, I dearly hope he wasn't an insufferable paragon as depicted by this book. If you're looking for fiction loosely based on history, don't waste your time on this. If you desire a historical romance, seek elsewhere. If I were you, read anything except this book.

[Rachel]

DNF. Far too many eye rolls. Made it half way through and could not go on. And that 50% was far much more than this book deserves. The writing is weak, I can deal with that- the book was free after all, but if the story is fun...
Fun it was not. The story of Nathan Hale is soooo boring and the characters are flat and one dimensional. The “good” guy is so perfect and so handsome that girls are swooning everywhere he goes but he never seems to notice. He only has eyes for his sister. Whatever. I'm going to go in to that. The “bad” guy is rotten through and through. He even has rotten teeth, while Nathan has prefect, white ones. And that’s where I stopped; I couldn’t take one more description about the “perfect” hero. Now how do I get this thing off my kindle?

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seemed to me the author set out to write a romance story and somehow decided to drag Nathan Hale and history into it in order to twist things around to make her story look good. It would have been better if she had just used fictional names to go with this fictional story.
I'm surprised she hasn't been slammed by any Society of Nathan Hale representatives for the amazing lack of research she seems to have done as well as the disrespect paid to him and his father(REALLY?)

[Liza · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel itself was so-so (I prefer a bit more historical accuracy when I already know how the story ends, however I appreciated the footnotes at the end to clarify the artistic license), but it was interesting to read about places I'm familiar with. 30 miles to Norwich, with mentions of New London and Groton, hah!

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story it was very intriguing. I was drawn in and very invested in the characters. Unfortunately Ms. Akers took great liberties with history. I would have been happier if the main character had been completely fictional, not someone from our history.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to a fictional but based on fact account of Nathan Hale's life. There was absolutely no need to add in adultery and incestuous love, created only from the author's mind, to the story.

[Becky S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sappy romance novel below the talents of this author that usually has really good ideas about history and the revolutionary war.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I just read

I've never actually considered lives of Patriots during the war. Only thinking of the men behind our constitution and Washington. Though this is a work of fiction, it's a very interesting read. I actually feel I've learned a bit reading this fictional account, albeit with some facts, in regards to this young man.

Pretty sure we can sum this up as, "help, I've just suffered emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback" off to mg next adventure.

[Andreas J. Bendzin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical novel.

As all historical novels do, they are fun to read and you learn a lot at the same time. Having read previous ones like the volumes by Bodie and Brock Thoene about the pre days of the new/old state of Israel and Reading Leon Uris‘s EXODUS which is true to history towards the end of the book, one can appreciate the historical novels which take some liberties for drama but essentially are point on.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author spun some interesting stories the flesh out her history of Nathanial Hale. She does explain the facts as known along with her manufactured portions of the history.
The Alice she portrayed came across to me as a little bit selfish and headstrong to Nathanials best interests which made me not particularly care for her.

[rebecca Bank · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was an awesome book. Nathan Hale was a remarkable man. Our country last his talents when he was killed. It seems to me that much of the heartache of this story could have been solved if the parents had just set down with Alice and Nathan and told them why they could not marry.

[Ka-AR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo!

Well written, paced, plotted. While reading "Halestorm", I forgot I was reading a historical novel. Every time I retired from reading "Halestorm" I was left with the impression of a well researched biography.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and encouraged me into looking up the actual history. Loved it!

[Sarah Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I picked up from for free from Amazon, and I have decided instead of randomly reading these free books that I have no idea what they are about other than free to start at the A's and work my way to the Z's.

This book was better than I expected, it is about the American revolution and the only American Revolutionist hung for spying Nathan Hale, he is famous for his final words "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." This is novel that is full of love and conflict, murder and betrayal. From the beginning the reader knows Nathan dies, yet his character is still endeared to us and we find ourselves hoping fervently for a different ending. That speaks volumes to me of Akers writing skills, she was able to draw me in and keep me hooked through the whole book, in fact there were times that I couldn't put it down. Now I'm sure Akers did her research, but I have no idea if the fats actually line up the way she said they did, but that is the fun of historical fiction right…take a story we know some about and flesh it out. This wasn't so amazing that I am scouring for her other works, which I have no idea if she has any, but it was a good solid 3 star. The price at the kindle store has gone up from $0 to $2.99 and I would say, hey if you have $3 this is a pretty good read.
For full review see my blog: http://adventuresofabibliophile.blogs...

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of us know that Nathan Hale was the revolutionary hero who upon being faced with his execution for treason against England declared that his only regret was that "he had but one life to lose for his country." But most of us do not know much else about the man or about his life. Though this is a fictionalized account of his life, Becky Akers has done a marvelous job researching the era and describing the background for his story. Clearly, she has gone back to first source documents for much of the language used by her characters, and though their dialogue comes out of her wonderfully creative imagination, it is highly believable, and definitely makes for an engaging story.

In fact, it was so exciting that toward the end, I couldn't put it down and ended up reading until I had finished it in the middle of the night. It is not often these days that I do that! Usually I pick up my book and in ten minutes my eyes are closing no matter how much I think I am interested in the subject.

I've enjoyed reading Becky Aker's other works, and am happy to see her branching out into the historical fiction genre. I'll be watching to see what she comes up with next.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becky Akers has brought to life the inspirational yet tragic story of the young, handsome and idealistic revolutionary, Nathan Hale, who volunteered for Gen. Washington's spy ring. She has woven his timeline and inevitable arc with real life events and people, and imagined a story with a potential relationship and its outcome based on historic facts and documentation. It reads like a novel yet is wound around the extraordinary backdrop of the American Revolution with compelling details and figures (with a few fictional thrown in) that make it all the more poignant because they are real. The appearances of Gen. Washington and Benjamin Tallmadge (a schoolmate of Hale's & eventual architect of the spy ring) lend good credibility to its beginnings and historical framework. Highly readable, enjoyable and filled with fully developed characters that move the story and its fast-moving events along, Haelstorm is an engaging read that I didn't want to end. Nor, for that matter, will readers. Readers will truly appreciate Hale’s character, ideals and sacrifice beyond his famous last words. Thankfully, Ms. Akers has another book to follow! Highly recommended.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of us know how American war hero Nathan Hale died, but very little about his life before he uttered his famous last words. In her stunning first novel Halestorm, writer Becky Akers vividly creates a world of both familiar tranquility and revolutionary fervor, full of daring conquests and inspiring political intrigue in which Hale is completely at ease.

Akers also gives her readers a compelling love story, one in which our hero is torn between honor and desire, and in which he must vie with a dastardly villain for the affection of the one woman he craves but who is mysteriously forbidden to him.

The plot builds to a dramatic finale in which all three protagonists find themselves immersed in the British assault on New York City; the story is so compelling that the last hundred pages go by like a house afire!

You won't want to put Halestorm down as you are quickly transported into its world of 18th-century values and conflicts. I enthusiastically recommend this exciting new novel.

[Jim Wetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I've enjoyed C.S. Forester's "Hornblower" books, about the British Navy not too long after the American Revolution, "Halestorm" had a familiar feeling to me: a combination of detailed accuracy in the historical context, and characters who are given enough (necessarily fictional) personal detail to come alive to the reader. There's a real feeling here of how the textures of people's everyday lives at that time were profoundly different from our experience, in contrast with the things we share with those who lived in Colonial times -- the central preoccupations of the human heart and soul, which know no century. Most of us already know perfectly well what happened to Nathan Hale, and that he's going to be dead at the end of this novel; but there are side plots going on that provide page-turning suspense anyway. In any case, if you enjoy historically-based fiction, as I do, this book's for you.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was slow in the beginning, but I really ended up liking it. Fun historical fiction with some facts in it.

[Esther Bergling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the way I like a history lesson!

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!