The Eye of the Tiger

Rating:
Summary: Yea Wilbur Smith!!
Review: Eye of the Tiger is a tribute to the masterful writing skills of Wilbur Smith. This was the first book I read by Smith that took place in contemporary times, so his immense skill in creating historical settings was not necessary. He spins a hard to put down account of a search for what we will learn to be buried undersea treasure from a shipwreck.

The protagonist is Harry Fletcher an ex-mercenary who is now a premier deep sea fisherman based out of the fictional island of St. Marys, an idyllic paradise off the coast of Africa. He gets lured into the search for an unknown item in the guise of a fishing charter. This turns into a web of intrigue as a bevy of unsavory characters try to get their fingers into the prize. Fletcher and his cohorts eventually decide to go after the treasure themselves. Along the way he falls for the sister of one of the players in this well thought out caper.

The ending has a nice twist to it which left me with a very satisfied feeling as I completed the book.

Rating:
Summary: Great, believable action book! A lot of fun...
Review: I really enjoyed this book - it was easy to read and follow, even the fishing terms (and I don't fish), and moved swiftly. I found the whole book exciting and believeable (most of the time), though the ending left me feeling like it wasn't quite right - can't put my finger on it - but not a big deal - READ THIS BOOK if you like action books.

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Summary: This is a good airplane read....
Review: If you're tired of the inflight magazine, pick this book up as I did on a recent trip back home from Chicago. I didn't realize I had read this before (I should have known, I've read all the other ones) but that did not stop me from getting caught up inthe story again.

Smith walks the fine line between action novel and romance novel, in fact it was my mom who introduced me to his writing years ago, but Eye of The Tiger's 'manly' cover design won't get you any strange looks on the plane...

He just draws you in. You feel like, "Sure, I know what's it's like to dive in the Indian Ocean, fight off sharks, ride out a cyclone, no problem." I defy you to read a Wilbur Smith book without getting totally drawn into the story.

Like I said - this one's great for a plane flight, just about the right length for coast-to-coast travel and perfect if you're longing for the sun.

MM

Rating:
Summary: Great, believable action book! A lot of fun...
Review: my first attempt at wilbur smith since reading river god which was great. this was just ok. fast paced, but not much too it.

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Summary: The master of action adventure
Review: This is one of Wilbur Smith's best novels. Great main character and the female in this book isn't as clueless as his usual females. If you liked this one check out Birds of Prey by him.

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Summary: If you like Cussler, you'll love Smith!
Review: When a friend found out that I am a big fan and avid reader of the Dirk Pitt novels, he said "if you like Cussler, you'll love Wilbur Smith." I followed his advice and tried out Eye of the Tiger. This is the first Wilbur Smith novel I've read, and it definitely will not be the last. I'm definitely hooked!

Why am I so hooked? It's an engrossing page-turner, it has lots of lively action, the bad guys are eminently hate-able without being cartoonish, the heros are believable and all the more lovable because they have such human foibles, and everything in the story is so believable.

The hero (Harry Fletcher) is a manly-man who is able to think and fight his way out of apparently impossible situations, yet at the same time never comes across as an invincible superman. I think I also like him so much is that he is a reluctant hero. Circumstances are forced upon him, rather than him being sent in to save the world because he's the only one who could do it. In some ways, he is almost like Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea, except that Wilbur Smith likes for his Hero to come out ahead in the end.

But I think the part that I most appreciated was that there were so many unpredictable surprises and twists, yet in hindsight, all the clues were there. Let me explain. My wife refuses to watch a movie with me the first time she sees it, because the clues are so ibvious that I usually figure out who dunnit or what the big surprise will be early on, and can explain why. Either that, or I get mad because the clues are never presented at all and the hero figures it out only through knowledge of some totally arcane trivia or by way of some clue that the author never actually presents to us in the book (or movie). This sucks! At least give me a chance.

Not so with this book! There were some wonderful twists that I found myself very happy to see because, in hindsight, the clues were all there, and it was totally valid for the hero to catch them, and I should have caught them to. For example, I didn't have to know about Flame Coral to draw the same conclusion Harry drew - I should have understood the implications of the other diver not knowing what it was. (You'll understand once you read the book).

Bottom line: my friend was right. If you like Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels, you WILL definitely like Wilbur Smith's Eye of the Tiger. I have already ordered a bunch more of Wilbur's books to add to my stack of Cussler novels.

Rating:
Summary: The Eye of the Tiger
Review: Wilbur Smith's Creativity to write is unimaginable. I was surprised as I read this novel; the characters turn out to be so real and you feels as if your there. The story of Harry Fletcher (an ex-soldier turned fisherman) and his dangerous adventure to find an ancient treasure that has been buried at the bottom of the Indian Ocean for thousands of years is filled with mystery and adventure, action and violence, romance and deception, this is a must read book, you wont waste your time.