Those In Peril

I recently finished reading Those in Peril by Wilbur Smith.  He is a prolific author and has written over 30 novels.  The only other book by him that I have read, however, is the book Monsoon.  Monsoon is a novel about a family in eighteenth century Europe and their adventures.  I recall it being a good book.  One of the best parts about it was that it just kept going.  Many places, other authors would have stopped the story and continued it in a sequel but Smith just kept going.  It was a fun book; definitely a good beach read.

The same could be said about Those in Peril.  However, Monsoon is a much better novel.  Those in Peril has a few major flaws.  The first major flaw is the book is borderline racist against Muslims.  Almost every single Muslim in the book is a terrorist full to the brim with hatred for America.  There is even a scene showing life in a Muslim town with some people being punished abhorrently for crimes.  There is a throwaway line about how not all Muslims are like this and how this is just an extremely radical sect but it is halfway through the book and surrounded by atrocities.  The second major flaw is that there is very little shades of grey in the characters of this novel.  The protagonists appear to be skilled at everything: from being crack shots to wine connoisseurs to fly fishing experts.  Meanwhile, the antagonists heartlessly kill people, discuss the best way to rape their victims, and are pedophiles.  While this does make it easy to root for the good guys, I like my characterizations to have a little more depth.  The third problem, which is minor compared to the other two, is that the dialog seems a little unrealistic. There were multiple points where the lack of a contraction was jarring. On a similar note, the author uses single quotes instead of double quotes when people are talking.  I cannot really explain why, but I find that annoying.

This may sound a little silly after what I just said, but if you can put aside these issues the book is a fun read.  Smith is the expert of having his books have more than one climactic scene and some of the suspense is intense.  There is a well written scene about half way through the book where they have to fight some essentially feral dogs while waiting for a helicopter rescue.  In addition, when the good guys do win, it is quite the victory.

I would say that if you need a book to read on the beach this summer and you happen to come across this one, give it a try.  However, I would not go out of your way to read it.

I would give this book a 60% overall.