A TIME TO DIE

by Wilbur Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 23, 1990

A big-game hunter does battle with nature, politics, and a lovely American millionairess, whose father hopes to bag one of Africa's last great elephants--in another grand-scale adventure from Smith (Rage, Power of the Sword, etc.). The moral and political opinions of delectable Claudia Monterro sting and bother like so many tsetse flies--she objects to nearly everything she sees--as she accompanies her wealthy, dying father on his last safari. Most of Claudia's venom is spit at Sean Courtney, the South African ex-soldier leading their hunt in Zimbabwe. While she wants to be with her father during his last days, she cannot abide the slaughter, and she holds Courtney responsible for all that ails post-colonial Africa. The safari begins to go sour when Claudia fouls her father's shot at a lion, leading to the deaths of one of Courtney's employees and several more innocent lions. The subsequent pursuit of a grand old elephant leads the party into the thick of the civil war in neighboring Mozambique. Then Courtney and Claudia fall into the grasp of the vicious Colonel China, who thinks they should stop hunting big game and start tracking down Zimbabwe's stockpile of Stinger missiles--with which he can knock out the Soviet helicopters that have blocked his strategy for control of the country. Sex, leeches, crunched bones, fork-tongued villains, athletic heroes, superhuman treks, and exploding helicopters--all are part of the excellent value Smith's fans expect and get in his action-adventures. He's in top form here.

Pub Date: March 23, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION