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Zambezi
Tony
Park Macmillan 432 pages $30
ARMY
Public Relations Reservist MAJ Tony Park has returned to the
continent of his first novel, Far Horizon, Africa, for this
story of love and betrayal.
Having served in Afghanistan on the first SASR deployment
in 2001, he brings an air of authenticity to the introductory
section where American Special Forces operator Jed Banks meets
a young Aussie journalist, Luke Scarborough, during the battles
with the Taliban and al Q’aeda.
From there, it is a quick jump to East Africa where hotel
magnate Hassan bin Zayid finds out that his brother has been
killed in Afghanistan fighting for al Q’aeda.
Jed and Hassan are linked by Jed’s daughter Miranda.
She is working as a researcher on lion behaviour, when she
disappears. Was she eaten by a lion? Did poachers or criminals
do away with her?
This is a competent thriller which takes a while to join all
the dots in a plot that keeps it simple. It’s not Shakespeare
or Tom Clancy but is more akin to Wilbur Smith with its African
setting and mixture of action, sex and revenge
– David Sibley
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The
Trudeau Vector
Juris Jurjevics Allen and Unwin 404 pages $29.95
Finally, a thriller which doesn’t have al Q’aeda,
a former hard-bitten SAS soldier, and rogue right-wing Western
intelligence services.
Instead, this is a combination of submarine action and biological
terror in the Artic.
First-time thriller writer Juris Jurjevics has crafted a workman-like
thriller based in a scientific research base near the North
Pole.
Four scientists die mysteriously while out on the frozen ice
wastes near the base. Dr Jessica Hanley, an epidemiologist
who specialises in investigating the outbreak of unknown diseases,
is called in to investigate.
Meanwhile the Russian Navy is investigating why one of its
submarines has not returned from a secret mission.
Don’t worry, there is a link but it takes some getting
there.
When Dr Hanley arrives at the polar base, she finds an interesting
collection of possible suspects, plus a hunky Inuit who provides
the local eye candy.
Although The Trudeau Vector isn’t great fiction, it will
still kill a few hours on a long plane flight.
– David Sibley
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