Explosive treasure hunting! (Eye of The Tiger - Wilbur Smith)

Member Name: WallaceSP

Product:	Eye of The Tiger - Wilbur Smith
Date:	15/08/01 (329 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Action packed, Good length, Deceptions, twists and turns, to keep the reader interested

Disadvantages: Does the girl return, we'll never know, perhaps a little too much death

Harry Bruce, the soldier, gets sick of the killing. He decides to do a simple robbery, get some cash and buy a boat. Sounds simple, but his partner takes off with the loot. He takes on another job, on his own, another simple robbery. He makes an error, alarms the guards, and the police. In the resulting shoot out, one of the guards gets wounded, and Harry never even took a gun, but still escapes alive. Feeling responsible he listens to the reports, longing the guard to survive. When he does Harry takes on a regular job. After two years he decides on another robbery, only with inside information, he takes his ideas to Manny Resnick, a man who can fund the project. This time there is success, and Harry Bruce buys a boat, changes his name and heads for the Indian Ocean.

On St. Mary?s Island, Harry Fletcher builds a shack and charters his boat for fishing excusions, and takes on a crew, Angelo and Chubby. Life is good for Mr Harry, he is a respected citizen and a friend of the president.

Things are going well, Harry has a season of charters fully booked, if all goes smoothly, he?ll be able to go through the quiet season without any night runs and remain an honest citizen for a little longer. Then his next charter is cancelled, two weeks in the high season without a charter. As luck would have it though, another charter arrived on the same plane as the special delivery cancellation.

An odd charter though, a diving expedition, out of season, and the crew are to stay behind. Harry knows this sort, he recognises the signs, but a charter is a charter and he needs the money. Harry takes his new charter out, they are clearly looking for something, but they will not say what. Then one of them recognises Mr Harry, figures out his identity.

The search continues, only now harry gets told what to look for. Three mountains in a line, Harry recognises it immediately, the ?Old Men?. He takes them there, out to Gunfire Reef, a dangerous and tricky r
eef, and they start to dive.

They find what they are looking for, still Harry does not know what it is, they are about to reveal their find, then Harry finds that he is being shot at. He goes overboard, swims to the stern, badly wounded, climbs back on board, just in time to see the diver, Jimmy North, killed. He makes it to his cockpit, pulls out his FN Carbine and manages to despatch the villains before they finish him off.

Harry despatches the find, wrapped up, into the sea, making a note of it?s location for collection later. Somehow manages to get back to St. Mary?s, constantly blacking out, and is discovered almost dead and is taken to hospital.

After weeks in hospital, Harry is once again able to take the boat out. Then comes another odd charter. The sister of the deceased diver, Sherry North, wants to find the treasure that Jimmy was looking for. Rather than return to Gunfire Reef, the real location, Harry takes the girl to the small item brought up by her brother. It turns out to be an old ships bell, somewhat worn. They decide to return the next day to continue the salvage work. Come the next morning, the girl disappears and the boat blows up.

Harry is not a happy man, and he follows the trail to England, discovers the real Sherry North, and searches for the answer to what everyone seems to want from Gunfire Reef.

After much searching Harry discovers that a ship, called the Dawn Light, was carrying an impressive cargo, a golden throne, imbedded with jewels, and a huge diamond; ?The Eye of the Tiger?. But while searching, he finds out who has been trying acquire the sunken treasure; his old acquaintance, Manny Resnick.

Harry has a small head start on Manny, he knows the correct location of the Dawn Light, but he has to raise the treasure, before Manny can catch up to him.

The race is on....


This is an action packed book, the story moves from explosions to bloody death, with decepti
on throughout the tale. The twist at the end is an unexpected delight, an example of superb story-telling.

The characters are well detailed, the charming yet deadly Harry, the ruthless rogues of Manny Resnick, Suleiman Dada and others. The bonding friendship between Harry Fletcher and Chubby Andrews is clearly defined. The people of this tale leap out of the page, giving the reader a clear image of them.

The tale twist and turns, so that you are always longing to find out what happens next, where the story is going to lead you.

My only quibble, is that I would like to know if Harry gets the girl. The love-struck Harry seems to think that he will, but we never know. Perhaps it is better to wonder?

Generally, I would say this is an excellent book, an exciting story with intrigue, mystery and passion , which was not over in five minutes, and did not take a lifetime to read. This is the first book by Wilbur Smith that I have read, and I think I will be reading another again, soon(ish).

I would certainly recommend this book.

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