Monsoon (Courtney Family Adventures) - Hardcover

Monsoon is the latest chronicle in Smith's Courteney series. In it, Hal Courteney is sent by the East India Trading Company to attack Arab pirates who are harassing trade off the East African coast. He takes three of his four sons, but one of them absconds to Bombay and another is taken prisoner by the Arabs. Although the mission is an eventual success, Hal himself is seriously injured and returns to England. His son Tom becomes the real hero of the story, gallantly rescuing his captured brother from the infidel.

Like his heroes, Smith's prose pulls no punches: "Aboli swung the axe in a wide, flashing arc. It took the man full in the side of his neck, severing it cleanly. His head toppled forward and rolled down his chest, while his trunk stood erect before it slumped to the deck. The air escaped from his lungs in a whistling blast of frothy blood from the open windpipe." It may not be pretty, but it certainly grabs your attention. --Dick Adler

"Smith's novel is far more than your typical pirate script.... A fascinating account...Smith deftly evokes not only the horrific but also the beautiful, particularly the lush landscape of Africa." --The Washington Post Book World on Birds of Prey

"As usual, Smith...peoples his tale with unforgettable characters....Swashbuckling and sensuous, Birds of Prey is not for the faint-hearted. Its bloodiest scenes are vivid and detailed--and so are hero Hal's romantic encounters. But, as with Smith's previous two bestsellers, River God and The Seventh Scroll, this latest epic transcends the average action-adventure yarn." --The Orlando Sentinel

"Birds of Prey is a wonderful novel filled with excitement, pirates, and vivid sea battles....In short, it is vintage Wilbur Smith." --Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas)

"A rich, compelling look back in time [to] when history and myth intermingled." --San Francisco Chronicle on River God

"An epic...Smith joins the ranks of the grand masters of twentieth-century novels." --Tulsa World on River God

"Throughout The Seventh Scroll, as in all Wilbur Smith novels, the plot twists and turns with constant surprises....This old-fashioned adventure novel keeps the reader enthralled all the way to its very exciting conclusion." --The Washington Post Book World