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Ray Sharp #3
Flight of the Hornbill
Gold, a lot of it, has been discovered in the oil-rich tropics of Sumatra. Or has it?
Why does a Frenchman want to kill Ray Sharp? Who’s been shoved out of a helicopter and why? Is there a war breaking out in the massage parlors of a jungle boomtown? Can Ray get his estranged wife off his back and find her lost boyfriend?
From an American suburb incongruously set into a jungle clearing to the sleazy bars and high-rise offices of Jakarta; from a teeming neighborhood floating on a river to the dense, steaming rainforest—Flight of the Hornbill is a thrill ride through an exotic Asian landscape peopled with unforgettable characters; some desperate to make a buck, some willfully ignoring their past, and most unforgettable of all, Ray Sharp, expatriate corporate investigator, struggling to find his place as an outsider in someone else’s world.
Flight of the Hornbill is loosely based on the facts of the real-life Bre-X gold fraud.
Why does a Frenchman want to kill Ray Sharp? Who’s been shoved out of a helicopter and why? Is there a war breaking out in the massage parlors of a jungle boomtown? Can Ray get his estranged wife off his back and find her lost boyfriend?
From an American suburb incongruously set into a jungle clearing to the sleazy bars and high-rise offices of Jakarta; from a teeming neighborhood floating on a river to the dense, steaming rainforest—Flight of the Hornbill is a thrill ride through an exotic Asian landscape peopled with unforgettable characters; some desperate to make a buck, some willfully ignoring their past, and most unforgettable of all, Ray Sharp, expatriate corporate investigator, struggling to find his place as an outsider in someone else’s world.
Flight of the Hornbill is loosely based on the facts of the real-life Bre-X gold fraud.
245 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
About the author
Eric Stone
38 books10 followersEric Stone's most recent book is
SHANGHAIED
, the fourth book in his Ray Sharp series of detective thrillers set in Asia and based on true stories. The previous books in the series are FLIGHT OF THE HORNBILL, GRAVE IMPORTS and THE LIVING ROOM OF THE DEAD. He is also the author of
Wrong Side of the Wall
- a true crime / sports biography.
Eric worked for many years as a journalist in the U.S. and Asia, covering everything from economics to crime; politics to sex. He once wrote an advice to the lovelorn column in a bilingual Chinese-English fashion magazine. He currently lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi where he continues to write both fiction and non-fiction, as well as working as a photographer.
Eric's Website: http://www.ericstone.com
"
Eric worked for many years as a journalist in the U.S. and Asia, covering everything from economics to crime; politics to sex. He once wrote an advice to the lovelorn column in a bilingual Chinese-English fashion magazine. He currently lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi where he continues to write both fiction and non-fiction, as well as working as a photographer.
Eric's Website: http://www.ericstone.com
"
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 25, 2018
Although Flight of the Hornbill is #3 of the Ray Sharp series, it is the first one for me. This novel has all the characteristics of a good suspense: twist and turns, greed, beat downs and sex. Lots of sex. It also has some delicious description of native food.
Ray is no longer a journalist, but a Corporate Investigator. His new employer has sent him to Indonesia to investigate some shady company who may or may not have found gold. Stone does a beautiful job describing Indonesia's culture, atmosphere, corruptions, and total sense of atmosphere.
His investigations takes him to Sumatra, Java, Jakarta and Bali. I do not really understand the political and cultural differences between all of these places. From reading this book these islands and the 100s of others surrounding them are culturally similar in many ways, but also very different.
While he in investigating, Ray is dallying freely with multiple women with no more than an after thought. On one hand, he uses them physically then on the other hand he respectfully bows to their help in a strange symbiotic relationship. What is apparent is most of the people are poor, very poor living in squalor. At one point Ray Sharp comments that a $400/month salary is considered Middle Class. Sadly, it seems the only affluent or successful are Expats, foreign investors or corporations people.
More disturbing, is Stone's depiction of the Indonesian women. They appear to have little or no opportunity to get out of poverty. Almost every Indonesian woman in this book have willingly/unwillingly survived by selling themselves - in an unnerving, "whatever", matter of fact sort of way. The lucky ones find Foreign husbands or are able to save enough money from it to get out.
According to the book blurb, Eric Stone based this novel on the Bre-x gold fraud scandal.
Ray is no longer a journalist, but a Corporate Investigator. His new employer has sent him to Indonesia to investigate some shady company who may or may not have found gold. Stone does a beautiful job describing Indonesia's culture, atmosphere, corruptions, and total sense of atmosphere.
His investigations takes him to Sumatra, Java, Jakarta and Bali. I do not really understand the political and cultural differences between all of these places. From reading this book these islands and the 100s of others surrounding them are culturally similar in many ways, but also very different.
While he in investigating, Ray is dallying freely with multiple women with no more than an after thought. On one hand, he uses them physically then on the other hand he respectfully bows to their help in a strange symbiotic relationship. What is apparent is most of the people are poor, very poor living in squalor. At one point Ray Sharp comments that a $400/month salary is considered Middle Class. Sadly, it seems the only affluent or successful are Expats, foreign investors or corporations people.
More disturbing, is Stone's depiction of the Indonesian women. They appear to have little or no opportunity to get out of poverty. Almost every Indonesian woman in this book have willingly/unwillingly survived by selling themselves - in an unnerving, "whatever", matter of fact sort of way. The lucky ones find Foreign husbands or are able to save enough money from it to get out.
According to the book blurb, Eric Stone based this novel on the Bre-x gold fraud scandal.
July 8, 2008
Stone is a good writer, his evocation of an exotic setting is excellent. In fact it is the main driving force in this very dark and seamy steamy novel. It is set in parts of Indonesia where foreign men seem to prey endlessly on the native women and there is more sex per chapter than I've seen in recent crime fiction.
August 16, 2008
Ray Sharp is separated from his wife, Sylvia, and would love to be divorced but Sylvia isn’t cooperating. At least she wasn’t cooperating but now she wants something from Ray. Sylvia needs him to locate her missing boy friend, Alexander Lee Truscott.
Due Diligence International employs Ray, and he is in Jakarta to conduct an investigation for a Hong Kong investment bank. The investigation involved Motex, Ray’s former employer, and Lucky Break, an Australian mining company, who claims to have found gold. Since Truscott was rumored to have dealings with Lucky Break it sounds like locating him should be a snap for Ray but that is not the case.
When Ray begins his investigation he soon finds out that Lucky Break does not want to be investigated and are not gentle in making Ray aware of this fact. From rumors Ray begins to believe that Truscott may be dead at the hands of Lucky Break employees.
There is never a dull moment in Eric Stone’s novels. Prostitution seems to be the main occupation of the women in Indonesia. It is not difficult for Ray to find women to help him sift out information that would be very hard to find on his own.
The setting is exotic, the story is exciting and the descriptions of the food and the people add a lot to this very interesting tale.
Due Diligence International employs Ray, and he is in Jakarta to conduct an investigation for a Hong Kong investment bank. The investigation involved Motex, Ray’s former employer, and Lucky Break, an Australian mining company, who claims to have found gold. Since Truscott was rumored to have dealings with Lucky Break it sounds like locating him should be a snap for Ray but that is not the case.
When Ray begins his investigation he soon finds out that Lucky Break does not want to be investigated and are not gentle in making Ray aware of this fact. From rumors Ray begins to believe that Truscott may be dead at the hands of Lucky Break employees.
There is never a dull moment in Eric Stone’s novels. Prostitution seems to be the main occupation of the women in Indonesia. It is not difficult for Ray to find women to help him sift out information that would be very hard to find on his own.
The setting is exotic, the story is exciting and the descriptions of the food and the people add a lot to this very interesting tale.
November 10, 2009
Read on Kindle, this is an interesting and quick thriller read that I give three and a half stars to, really.
The biggest problem with it is the razor thin plot with zero suspense is stretched to the limit and is often repetitive, though it's certainly never tedious. That's because author Stone does a wonderful job depicting Indonesian (Jakarta, Malaysia and Borneo) from many sides, from poverty to the nightclub high spots and landscapes. It's an offbeat choice and obviously a place he knows well and loves and he conveys that beautifully. If you're looking for exotic, you'll probably enjoy this a lot.
The other problem...and I'm far from a prude....are the protracted sex scenes. Enough is enough already! :)
The biggest problem with it is the razor thin plot with zero suspense is stretched to the limit and is often repetitive, though it's certainly never tedious. That's because author Stone does a wonderful job depicting Indonesian (Jakarta, Malaysia and Borneo) from many sides, from poverty to the nightclub high spots and landscapes. It's an offbeat choice and obviously a place he knows well and loves and he conveys that beautifully. If you're looking for exotic, you'll probably enjoy this a lot.
The other problem...and I'm far from a prude....are the protracted sex scenes. Enough is enough already! :)
January 28, 2014
Great fast paced novel placed in and around Jakata. Stone obviously knows the place, the people .... and the prostitutes well !
Colourful descriptions as his intrepid investigator 'Ray Sharp' looks to uncover a scam related to a supposed gold strike.
Colourful descriptions as his intrepid investigator 'Ray Sharp' looks to uncover a scam related to a supposed gold strike.
June 27, 2009
Very cinematic novel about digging for truth... in Indonesia.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews