Black Pearl

by Peter Tonkin

Overview

An incalculable fortune in conflict minerals lies on the bed of a lost lake. The lake lies in the middle of a jungle hardly changed since the age of the dinosaurs, while the jungle stands on the slope of an active volcano which has destroyed the only civilisation nearby. The volcano serves as a border between two warring central African nations. And an uncontrolled, murderous guerrilla army claims the territory for its own, using a combination of modern terrorist techniques and timeless black magic to keep strangers out.

Richard Mariner is leading a team into the heart of it all, seeking the lake and the fortune it contains – his only clues a half-forgotten legend and a huge black pearl that is so much more than it seems . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780104386
Publisher:	Severn House Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Series:	A Richard Mariner Adventure , #27
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Tonkin was born in Ulster, son of an RAF officer. He spent much of his youth travelling the world from one posting to another. He went to school at Portora Royal, Enniskillen and Palmer's, Grays. He sang, acted, and published poetry, winning the Jan Palac Memorial Prize in 1968. He studied English with Seamus Heaney at Queen's Belfast. In his year were Paul Muldoon, Bernard MacLaverty and Ciaran Hinds.

Editorial Reviews

Ingeniously plotted and packed with nail-biting suspense, fierce rivalries, clever skulduggery, and nightmarish violence, this is a thought-provoking, edge-of-the-seat read for all fans of adventure tales

Booklist

Ingeniously plotted and packed with nail-biting suspense, fierce rivalries, clever skulduggery, and nightmarish violence, this is a thought-provoking, edge-of-the-seat read for all fans of adventure tales

Booklist

"Ingeniously plotted and packed with nail-biting suspense, fierce rivalries, clever skulduggery, and nightmarish violence, this is a thought-provoking, edge-of-the-seat read for all fans of adventure tales."
Booklist on Black Pearl

“Tonkin delivers dependable, authentic thrills on treacherous land, in turbulent waters and even aboard hovercrafts.”
Kirkus Reviews on Black Pearl

From the Publisher

2013-09-01
Adventurer Richard Mariner battles terrorists and forbidding natural elements in his quest for fortune in a land that time forgot. Back in 1973, Mizuki Yukawa, of the Yakimoto Freshwater Pearl Company, died mysteriously in the jungles of Benin La Bas in central Africa. Decades have passed, erasing all trace of the young woman and her boss, Dr. Koizumi, who was beheaded. Indigenous fauna have died out or been killed by rebels. Now, in 2013, months of torrential rains wash the skull of Koizumi out of the region, along with enough of the invaluable oysters unique to the region to pique interest in a new expedition. At the forefront are Richard and his wife, Robin, as well as a pair of Russian business partners, Maximilian Asov and Felix Makarov, and their team of Russian mercenary muscle. Max's daring daughter Anastasia, who first brought him evidence of the priceless resource, is along as well. Working with the country's president, Julius Chaka, they follow Koizumi's maps, underestimating the danger posed by a regiment of locals who have seized the region, a divider between Benin La Bas and its unfriendly neighbors. Small wonder that Chaka was less than forthcoming. Anastasia's recklessness, born of her damaged relationship with Max, makes matters even worse when the group is trapped and endangered. Mariner's 19th adventure, revisiting many characters and places from his 17th (Dark Heart, 2012, etc.), sometimes bogs down in the details of allegiances and political minutiae. But Tonkin delivers dependable, authentic thrills on treacherous land, in turbulent waters and even aboard hovercrafts.

Kirkus Reviews