A Time to Die

If you are looking for a story that will keep you riveted to the edge of your seat, look no further. I won't even go into Smith's story telling abilities. He is simply one of the best story tellers period.This story takes place in war torn Mozambique mostly, and is the continuation of the Courtney adventures. Mostly this revolves around Sean, who is the grandson of the original Sean Courtney.Not as long as some of the other stories in this series, but at 530 pages it's a substantial tale.Smith's knowledge of the bush war in Southern Africa is extraordinary even though he was born in Rhodesia. His knowledge of the how things work in Africa still astounds me. He will take you to another world in an adventure few authors can tell.I am so exhausted from this book, I am going to have to read something lighter before I take on the next one in the series.How anybody could give this less than 5 stars, is beyond me. Perhaps they have not read the previous stories in the series.To say this is a worthwhile read is a huge understatement.If you have the gumption, read this book. You won't be disappointed.

i have read most of Wilbur Smiths novels featuring the Courtney family of South Africa and found them to be terrific five star novels but this one fell a little shy of that for me. But that being said this book is very well written as always and is a total action thriller with a linear plot that just does not express the passion of previous books.The story begins when Sean Courtney, big game hunter, leads a safari in search of a trophy elephant that is the lifetime goal of Ricardo Montero the hunter, accompanied by his daughter Claudia who is totally repulsed by his desire to harvest the magnificent animal. The hunt consumes about the first two hundred pages of the book and ends in an extraordinary climax that is astounding. Unfortunately the hunt drags on and on and becomes quite tedious to follow.Upon return to camp Sean discovers that in his absence Claudia has been captured by the Renamo rebel forces led by the truly evil General China who are trying to retake their country of Mozambique held by the Frelemo government army. Sean catches up with the general and he is forced into an agreement to carry on a mission in order save the life of Claudia. What follows is an exciting journey that is bogged down with endless nighttime treks through the forest that despite being part of the story become redundant. The author does a wonderful job of describing the blood lust and savagery that exists along with the tribalism in modern Africa that continues to plague the African continent. There are many passages that are brutal but well done as usual by the author.Overall this is a very good adventure story but I found the relationship between Claudia and Sean to be to melodramatic and the feats of Sean approaching super hero level at times. Still a worthwhile read although I found the ending disappointing.

Mr. Smith like a fine artist you paint a beautiful picture with your words from the introduction of a spoiled teenage girl and her hunter father with a handsome guide. Then the wonderful story of the birth and life of a male elephant. Then to the hunting for the trophy tusks and the death of both the elephant and the tusk speared hunter. Ah then the beautiful reconciliationthe daughter and the guide that blooms into true love which is consummated on a log floating in a crocodile infested river. From then on is the most exciting story of survival in a cruel bloody war that turned my stomach with torture with a hot poker up a prisoners behind so at this point I will leave it for future readers to experience.

Wilber Smith fans this is a must read. The story starts out with Courtney taking a game hunter and his snobby daughter on an expedition to hunt down a very large and angry elephant who has had many fights with man because of the value of it's tusks. This elephant lives deep in the jungle of Africa where the Frelimo and Renamo armies are fighting each other. The elephant tracks lead through these areas and although the elephant is finally caught, Courtney, his trackers and the hunting party end up using all their strength and knowledge to survive in the Jungle as General China the leader of the Renamo army wants Courtney dead because of an old vendetta so joins forces with the Frelimo army to hunt them down. The twists and turns this story takes keep you glued to the book. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

It's no secret that I like Wilbur Smith and have read most of his books so I'm a little biased when it comes to writing this review. The guy knows how to write an always interesting adventure novel and maybe a little more than that since he writes great African politics and history, great edge of your proverbial seat thrillers, and reminds a lot of us how little we actually know of African policies and the kind of prejudice that has little to do with color but more often to do with historical and bitter tribal fueds, power grabs, and underlying economics. He also writes of great loyalties; something that few books offer up these days so it's five stars for A Time to Die for another great read.Nicely done, Wilbur.

To call this book or Mr. Smith racist would be a mistake. The author demonstrates an intimate knowledge of african politics and is a well informed and well researched writer. You cannot truly grasp african politics unless you have lived there or read a book like this from Wilbur Smith. I have lived in Africa and I found the book illustrating the African struggle to survive in a technology-based era and the consequencial brutality and desperation of its nations to be true to life and riveting. If you want to learn something about Africa, put aside the preconceptions of the liberal media and get ready for a grimly realistic and action packed novel.