Here's a review I did for my Goodreads book club: Wilbur Smith's The Diamond Hunters. Honestly, I was a little disappointed after really enjoying some of his other books such as the River God trilogy.
This African adventure centres on the greed and treachery of the diamond mining business. Impossibly cruel patriarch Van Der Byl pits his own son against his adopted son and tears the family apart, making life miserable for both brothers and their sister. On his death bed, the father ties the three children to the struggling mining company and tensions boil over.
The characters are all flawed: Benedict despises Johnny and plots his downfall. Johnny wants love and acceptance from his family, and Tracey is too weak-willed to help herself, let alone save her family.
I think one of the reasons I didn't like this was to do with the sexism towards the women, which I have come across in other books written before I was born, such as the early James Bond and Dirk Pitt novels. The other was the hatred and antagonism between the characters and lack of redeeming features. The so-called hero of the story covets his adopted sister and seems not to care that her world is shattered because of it.
It is an engaging action plot and I would recommend it for adventure fans, those who enjoy Wilbur Smith's novels, and anyone interested in diamond mining for it is quite descriptive.
This African adventure centres on the greed and treachery of the diamond mining business. Impossibly cruel patriarch Van Der Byl pits his own son against his adopted son and tears the family apart, making life miserable for both brothers and their sister. On his death bed, the father ties the three children to the struggling mining company and tensions boil over.
The characters are all flawed: Benedict despises Johnny and plots his downfall. Johnny wants love and acceptance from his family, and Tracey is too weak-willed to help herself, let alone save her family.
I think one of the reasons I didn't like this was to do with the sexism towards the women, which I have come across in other books written before I was born, such as the early James Bond and Dirk Pitt novels. The other was the hatred and antagonism between the characters and lack of redeeming features. The so-called hero of the story covets his adopted sister and seems not to care that her world is shattered because of it.
It is an engaging action plot and I would recommend it for adventure fans, those who enjoy Wilbur Smith's novels, and anyone interested in diamond mining for it is quite descriptive.