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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Woodburn Public Library | Smith | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | LP Smith, W. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | LP FIC SMITH | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Author Notes
Novelist Wilbur Smith was born in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia on January 9, 1933. He graduated from Rhodes University.
He has writen more than 20 novels, which have been translated into 26 different languages. The Dark Side of the Sun, Wild Justice, and Shout at the Devil have all been adapted as films. Smith says that Africa is his major inspiration, and currently he has over 30 novels published. Many of his books have become bestsellers, including Predator, the third book in the Hector Cross series. Other recent bestsellers include Pharoah, War Cry, Courtney's War, and his first memoir, On Leopard Rock.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Hot sex, ultra violence, rich beautiful women, brave handsome men-Smith (The Quest) delivers it all in this over-the-top thriller set largely on the high seas. Hector Cross, security chief for Hazel Bannock, owner and CEO of Bannock Oil, battles Somali pirates led by Adam Tipoo Tip and his grandfather, Sheik Mohammed Khan Tipoo Tip, who have kidnapped Cayla Bannock, Hazel's adored 19-year-old daughter. The Tipoo Tips also plan to capture Hazel and ransom her for several billion dollars as well as torture and murder Cross, with whom they have a longstanding blood feud. Cross isn't going to allow the bad guys to carry out their depredations on the Bannock women, especially after he and Hazel become lovers. The author's vast legions of fans should embrace the lurid action, the larger-than-life characters, and the heated prose with their usual enthusiasm. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Smith tackles modern-day pirates in this adventure novel set in Africa.Hector Cross has a problem. As the head of Cross Bow Security, he is tasked with protecting the assets of Bannock Oil in Abu Zara. When Somalian pirates kidnap heiress Cayla Bannock, her mother, Hazel, insists on accompanying Hector on the rescue mission. Complicating matters is Adam Tippoo Tip, sheikh of Puntland, a ragtag fiefdom of pirates, who has sworn vengeance against Hector for killing both his father and grandfather. Although Hector and Hazel start off loathing one another, their animosity inevitably gives way to passion. There's quite a bit of sex in the book, and it's typically gratuitous or grisly, including a horrifying gang-rape scene. Smith's action sequences are first-rate, but he's not a reflective writer and the story is marked by flat prose and wooden dialogue. (Cayla, for instance, doesn't come remotely close to sounding like a young American girl from Houston.) Vengeance plays a major role here; it's the chief motivating force for both sides. Curiously, those who have been wronged by the pirate king's schemes embrace their tormenter's notion of what constitutes just punishment: a life for a life. The characters mete out revenge with ruthless savagery, engage in torture and carry out executions, making them no better than the enemy. Hector and Hazel ultimately win the day, but at a price so steep only a cynic would call it a victory.An uneven, ripped-from-the-headlines swashbuckler whose heroes dodge their enemies' bullets and the implications of their own actions, with mixed results.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Septuagenarian Smith's latest potboiler recounts the high-body-count exploits of security contractor Hector Cross, a right-wing cowboy with an itchy trigger finger, and his employer-cum-lover, haughty oil-baroness Hazel Bannock. When Hazel's 19-year-old daughter, Cayla (a petulant, spoiled brat), is kidnapped off Hazel's yacht and held for an outrageous ransom by terrorist pirates, Cross is called in to free her from their murderous clutches. He and Hazel start off hating each other, but then as they begin plotting to free Cayla, they fall madly (and graphically) in lust. The best way to describe the plot is to compare it to a screenplay written by Dick Cheney and Harold Robbins for a straight-to-DVD movie starring Jason Statham and Angelina Jolie. Readers who want a good but mindless adventure will overlook the unnatural, stilted dialogue (no character in this book uses contractions when they speak) and just enjoy the action as the bad guys get their due. Recommended for large popular collections where Smith and adventure fiction are eagerly sought. High-Demand Backstory: Considerable publicity campaign will support the latest novel by a perennially best-selling historical and adventure novelist.--Gannon, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Simultaneous release with the Thomas Dunne hc (150,000-copy first printing); "Smith's many fans will enjoy," LJ 3/15/11; Rupert Degas reads. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.