Customer Reviews

A Twist of Sand

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Reading Ian Fleming's James Bond novels led me to this author--a friend of Fleming's who was originally tapped to write the first non-Fleming Bond novel (although the job eventually went to literary big-shot Kingsley Amis). This story has elements of World War Two, and illegal boat traffic along some dangerous shoreline along South African wilderness. I don't want to spoil anything, but it is a great read that ends up taking the reader all over the place, and has some great scenes. HOWEVER, there is a distinctly racist perspective going on in this book, although it's confined to only two or three scenes, for the most part. This is a South African author describing post-WWII South Africa, and while the racism isn't dwealt on and doesn't at all define the events--it does appear more than once. It is perhaps noteworthy that possibly the most repellant and least intelligent character in the book is a vengeful Nazi beast of man. Anyhow, I took this aspect of the book as a sort of insight into a time and place that had its problems and ugliness, and that the writing reflected the mindset of the characters rather than the reality that they encountered--but still enjoyed the rest of the book immensely. (Final Note: half-way through the book, something happens that seemed to make no sense. If you spot it, just read on.)

not the best book I have read,but does give the right feel of being in a submarine during ww2,also what it`s like on the african coast,a rough sea and rocky coastline.Try and get the movie is another hard luck story,never on vhs or dvd,some tv showings in last 30years but not often,but is now possible to buy in the uk,from private sellers,and is up to dvd standard,read the book first,as film jumps over alot of the story,honor blackmans good in it,ok flick for a winters day.

Most of us will have heard of Ian Fleming and Alistair Maclean, but there were other writers like Geoffrey Jenkins who wrote some good books which got overshadowed by the better known writers. This is a good example of his work. "A Grue of Ice" is another example.
It is set partly in WW 2 and mainly in South Africa and Namibia circa 1959. As another reviewer said, there are some displays of racist attitudes which may upset people today. Remember that this is what you would expect from a South African of the 1960s, and treat the book on its own merits. A good read. I would say that it is comparable to the better books of Alistair Maclean.