I have been reading Wilbur Smith all my life. I have read every book written by him and now over 40 years later, I have read most of his books multiple times. I have bought and treasured each book. I was lucky enough to meet Wilbur Smith personally, when he came for a book launch of “Those in Peril “in 2011 at Forum mall in Bangalore. His autographed book is one of my prized possessions.
His books embodies everything wonderful about Africa , the broad brushstrokes of life from the last 300 years , its brutality , people who survive , the mines of gold, diamonds and the people who dug , mined, toiled to what is today –the single continent with a lot of natural riches. The first book I read was ‘The Sunbird’ in a Readers Digest’s abridged version of the story. His description of the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage prompted me to read about them in detail later on. It had to buy the book and I have been dutifully buying every book when released, even buying the hardcover sometimes, when impatient to read the book. I have seen all the movies made from his books like ‘The Mercenaries ‘, Dark of the Sun’, which incidentally have some of my favourite actors.
I honestly learnt more about Africa from his books rather than history, as the detail with which he describes the constant internecine wars among various tribes, their blood feuds present even today, is a marvelous chronicle of Africa down the ages. I cannot begin to describe my pleasure, when my daughter too started reading his books as there were an abundant supply of them in the house and she would hear me rave about some books to my friends. Coincidentally though living in USA, she had come for a trip to India and was present during my personal meeting with Wilbur Smith and I remember some lovely conversations with his wife.
The “The Vicious Circle “(or it’s also released under the name “The predator “) though the latest is a prequel to his book “Those in peril “. It mostly chronicles the life of Bannock before he met and marries Hazel .Though a billionaire his life is tumultuous and sad. Hector Cross the protagonist of both his books loses Hazel and he is immediately reminded about the pirates in Somalia, with whom he fought a bloody war. As the Somalian tribes are famous for their blood feuds which can be carried on for generations, Hector’s first thought was to extract his revenge on them. Through a combination of circumstances, he discovers that they are not responsible and then begins a search, which leads him through the past life of Henry Bannock. Bannock had fathered a twisted homophobic son through his first wife and then married again and had 3 daughters. The story now goes through brutal and sordid deeds of the twisted son so that, he could be the sole survivor of Bannock’s trust fund. Cross discovers that Hazel was murdered giving birth to her daughter. He then digs up the past through Agatha, Hazel’s personal secretary, to piece together the reason behind the brutal murders.
The first son Carl has been incarcerated for the rape off his step-sister. The horrific saga of life behind bars, the gang rapes and the partnering with another ex-con in developing a plan for the killings of all his step-sisters form the crux of the plot.
In all Wilbur Smith’s books even the antagonist has some redeeming features but in this book, it is only a string of bestiality, sadism and perverted acts which are certainly not Wilbur Smith’s style. In one of the worst scenes, a teenaged girl is thrown to the wild boars to be eaten alive. The killers are brought to justice by Hector Cross in the end but, it makes sordid reading. Normally Wilbur Smith weaves multiple story lines into his book which he forms a beautiful tapestry combining all of them beautifully. I have read through some of his books completely in one sitting, but after completing this book, the only feeling was – I don’t have to read it again.
This is the first book of Wilbur Smiths’ which I would never recommend to any decent person. After reading about 45 of his books, I cannot believe that this is written by Wilbur Smith. I can only conclude that he has lent his name to a ghostwriter under some strange compulsion. His books take pride of place in my collection and the only reason, I have kept it on my shelf is to complete the series.