High Wind in Java

Richard Mariner #18

by Peter Tonkin

A new Richard Mariner adventure - Richard Mariner is out to buy the revolutionary vessel Tai Fun, but not if multi-millionaire eco-warrior Nic Greenbaum has his way. The situation is further complicated when the tiny island of Pulau Baya, Tai Funs final port of call, is torn by a series of unexplained, overwhelming disasters. Helpless and desperate, the islanders go out to pirate and pillage. And the first vessel to appear over their horizon is the Tai Fun . . .

217 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2007

About the author

Peter Tonkin's first novel, KILLER, was published in 1978. His work has included the acclaimed "Mariner" series that have been critically compared with the best of Alistair MacLean, Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes.

More recently he has been working on a series of detective thrillers with an Elizabethan background. This series, "The Master of Defense", has been characterised as 'James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes meets William Shakespeare'. Each story is a classic 'whodunit' with all the clues presented to the reader exactly as they are presented to the hero, Tom Musgrave. The Kirkus Review described them as having 'Elizabethan detail, rousing action sequences, sound detection...everything a fan of historical mysteries could hope for."

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really pretty badly written book. The story is pretty interesting. The location of the story is exotic and some of the issues raised (development, resource plundering, global warming) are certainly important in our current world. Th characters are flimsy cutouts. It seems to be constructed by formula Lush tropical description. Sexy females. Dastardly villains. Noble natives.Finished book just to find out the resolution. Lesson learned ? Don't expend any energy ever again reading anything else by this author.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. This was a difficult read.
I was disappointed because this series has high reviews.
I found it wordy and tedious. Paragraphs upon paragraphs that desperately needed to be edited down. It gets great praise and its 3rd star in the descriptions of Indonesia, Java, and the eco-devastations occurring there. I am guessing that the books' overly detailed mariner information about yachts and such is why the series is so popular. I just found it to go on and on. I also found the characters rather boring.

[David Vanness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this a very enjoyable read. The story line & characters were fun to follow. A little overdone at the end. Not being a Professional Critic gives me the opportunity to allocate stars on sometimes a enjoyment level and occasionally on the scale of the writing. Guess my mood determines which level to use.