I was rather surprised at this book and not in a good way. It was very un-Wilbur-Smith-like in writing, style and even subject matter. I've read many of his novels including his Courtney and Ballantyne series' as well as his Ancient Egypt series and was enthralled with his attention to detail, thrilling adventures and his great family dynamics. This novel had none of those! As a matter of fact, had I read the premise, I never would have even picked this one up. I do not like books on terrorists and rarely read them. Their religious fanaticism makes me crazy as does the brutal murder of innocents. By the time I realized what this book was about (I had the audiobook), I was too far into Hazel's story to put it down.
Even though Hazel Bannock was a complete bitch and a rich one at that, I liked her from the beginning. She thoroughly disliked Hector Cross and made no bones about it. On the other hand, Hector was instantly enthralled as she is a stunningly beautiful and rich lady. When she leaves him at the oil field, Hector never expects to see her again. But when her daughter is kidnapped, she quickly returns begging for his help. The romance between them is ridiculous and very unexpected. All of a sudden this rich snob is all hot and heavy and talking dirty to her employee. This just didn't play for me.
The story switches back and forth between Hazel's, Hector's and the kidnapper's POV. I was mostly disturbed reading the events from the kidnapper's point of view. Adam Tippoo Tip is a crazy arab terrorist and what he does to Cayla is beyond cruel and unusual punishment. This is one of the elements of the story that were un-Wilbur-Smith-like. To my recollection, Wilbur Smith has never delved into this territory and described rape in such brutally graphic detail. To me this was totally unnecessary when a simple "she was raped" would have sufficed.
At one point, Hazel and Hector are in some muslim country and must attend an execution. This is another instance when graphic details were given for no reason except shock value. Neither Hazel nor Hector knew any of the people being executed so this entire sequence of events could have easily
been removed with no detriment to the story. After all, Hazel, Hector and the reader already knew that the arab terrorists were nasty evil people, additional proof really wasn't required.
I finished this book only because I had to know how they gave Adam his due. But I really wish I had read a physical copy instead of listening to this because there were numerous sections that I would have skipped and was unable to do that with the audiobook.
Even though Hazel Bannock was a complete bitch and a rich one at that, I liked her from the beginning. She thoroughly disliked Hector Cross and made no bones about it. On the other hand, Hector was instantly enthralled as she is a stunningly beautiful and rich lady. When she leaves him at the oil field, Hector never expects to see her again. But when her daughter is kidnapped, she quickly returns begging for his help. The romance between them is ridiculous and very unexpected. All of a sudden this rich snob is all hot and heavy and talking dirty to her employee. This just didn't play for me.
The story switches back and forth between Hazel's, Hector's and the kidnapper's POV. I was mostly disturbed reading the events from the kidnapper's point of view. Adam Tippoo Tip is a crazy arab terrorist and what he does to Cayla is beyond cruel and unusual punishment. This is one of the elements of the story that were un-Wilbur-Smith-like. To my recollection, Wilbur Smith has never delved into this territory and described rape in such brutally graphic detail. To me this was totally unnecessary when a simple "she was raped" would have sufficed.
At one point, Hazel and Hector are in some muslim country and must attend an execution. This is another instance when graphic details were given for no reason except shock value. Neither Hazel nor Hector knew any of the people being executed so this entire sequence of events could have easily
been removed with no detriment to the story. After all, Hazel, Hector and the reader already knew that the arab terrorists were nasty evil people, additional proof really wasn't required.
I finished this book only because I had to know how they gave Adam his due. But I really wish I had read a physical copy instead of listening to this because there were numerous sections that I would have skipped and was unable to do that with the audiobook.
A very exciting story of greed and wealth plus unbeliveable torture. Very X-rated in parts.
First of a trilogy involving Hector Cross, who is sort of a combination of James Bond and Smith character Sean Courtney. Like many of Smith's adventures, the good guys/bad guys are sharply delineated. Head of a security company, Cross works for a major oil company. This book involves Cross's efforts to rescue a kidnapping victim in the oil company owner's family. This author's books seem to contain more violence than his older novels, and this one is no exception. Fast moving and intriguing story.
