Customer Reviews

Cry Wolf

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you haven't read Wilbur Smith before sit back and enjoy his best. _Cry Wolf_ is the ultimate sting set in the 1930's when El Duce, Benito Mussolini had decided to expand Italy's conquests to include the African nation of Ethiopia. Two con artists enter the scene to combine skills in an effort to supply the nation with war goods, namely five rather antiquated armoured cars. The Texan,Jake, was the mechanic for this unlikely team while the flambouyant, Englishman, Major Garth Swales provided his expertise at impressive talk and blue-blooded contacts. Enter the beautiful altruistic news reporter, Vicky Camberwell who will accompany these two handsome men as they attempt to deliver their war machines across the desert, and you not only have the makings of a darn good movie, but also a "can't put it down" read.

If you're not familiar with this author, also check out his other books. I became engrossed with Egyptian history after reading his River God and the Seventh Scroll.

I have been reading this man's books since I was 14. I have never read one that wasn't excellent but two are far above the rest, this one and Hungry as the Sea. This book has something for everyone. The story is compelling, gripping, and stands the test of time. Anyone reading this now will still want to know how the people in Africa are doing today. Beware, if you read this book you will become hooked on this man's writing, I did and 24 years later I can't wait for each new one he writes.

This is another great book from a fine author. The setting is 1935 Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a landlocked country. The League of Nations has imposed a weapons import ban on all African countries. The Italians don't have to deal with this ban because they control one of the countries. That's the political situation.

The Italians are on a rampage in Africa to gobble up as many countries as possible. They have been doing a massive military buildup along the Ethiopian border. The Ethiopians know what is about to happen. They enlist the aid of two "men of the world" to buy and deliver four ancient armored cars and a variety of other weapons.

Throw into this mix an American reporter that happens to be a beautiful woman, an ancient Ethiopian cheiftan who wants to fight battles the traditional way, an Italian aristocrat that has purchased his commission and you have a good mix to create a story from.

This is a long book, but interesting. The chapters are long. The story is very entertaining and at times even humorous. Wilber Smith has done an excellent job of capturing this era in time. The details of the scenery and the people are right on.

If you are an Italian, you probably will not enjoy they way that Smith has stereotyped them. But, it is believable...

Absolutely great read. I discovered Wilbur Smith just last year. I love the historical settings and his knowledge of the military hardware of the era in which he is writing.

I found the story to be quite gripping and had me sitting up late at night (when I should have been sleeping). In short it is a great read!

Stories like this are timeless - war, heroism, love and lust. They make great ingredients in the hands of an author like Wilbur Smith.

Just sit back, and let yourself get carry away. You will absolutely love the trip.

I have read Wilbur Smith's books since I was 15 years old and I always admired his works and writing style. Thus, this book was a natural choice since it combines a good adventure with an interesting historical background. This is an awesome read right from page #1. Cry Wolf is a magnificent and moving novel, albeit a little drawn out at some places, brilliantly portraying the limitations of choices in the eventuality of an inevitability. The tragic war of Ethiopians in 1936 is very well depicted and the Italian characters are also well developed. The actions of the armoured cars are hair raising and the description of the African nature really magnificent, from a man who is a keen lover of that continent and has spent many years there. The last climactic battles are really awesome and gruelling and the finale leaves a bitter taste of realism. You will be surprised by the brutality of both sides, since the author does not paint the Ethiopians in idyllic colours but as the savages they really were. An un-polished gem that comes highly recommended.

I have read many of Smiths books over the years and was extremely disappointed to find that at several key sections of the plot large blocks of text had been deleted only to be found reinserted in the midst of a battle scene!

I do not know what the quality control is but you should definitely not pay for this book without knowing that this problem has been fixed!

If a picture paints a thousand words then in order to craft a convincing story the writer has to deftly use his or her words in a way that a reader can not only see the picture but with word color and tones that give it life.
As a writer I hate Wilbur Smith. He's so good he makes me want to break my fingers so I can't pretend to turn out anything of the kind. His settings are paintings, his characters convincingly real, and his dialogue...yeah, well, suffice to agree with so many others here and elsewhere that's he's a gifted Master with his craft.
CRY WOLF is yet another living painting with words. Chapter after chapter he draws us deeper into the story with action, adventure, and a promise of a wealth of gold. His plot twists and tangles are deftly tied and untied as he takes us along with several soldiers of fortune with Haile Salassie's fight againt Mussolini's forces in Ethiopia.
Since I try to read a little bit of every writer out there to be better at what I do, I read EVERYTHING of Smith's. Will I ever rise to his level? Doubtful. But will I learn and appreciate what it takes to do what he does? You bet.
Wilbur Smith is a true artist in a field where most just offer sketches.

... without the unbelievable sex and violence that his later books have in gag me amounts. Compare this stand-alone, not-a-series book to his later, over-expanded 1 star books like Triumph of the Sun. Why is it that when writers get older - they lose it. Some of my favorite writers were very good early on - Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, John Le Carre, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert B. Parker to mention a few - and in their later years pushed their imaginations and book contents in to unbelievable and unreadable plots and characters - producing barrel loads of titles and sales of products unworthy of their good early names. Sad.

This is a heartwarming tale of a disadvantaged and impovershed people fighting against insurmontable odds. My only criticism in this book is that it doesn't give you the ending to the story. All that we see is that the army survives but don't know that the Ethopians actually do triumph over the Italians in the end. I think that would have been a good footnote by the author at the end of the book.

I have no hesitation in giving this African adventure five stars! An American adventurer in Ethiopia in the late 1930s guides a caravan of armoured cars into the interior to escape the advancing Italians. Highly recommended!

Also highly recommended is "Sands of the Kalahari," by William Mulvilhill.
The Sands of Kalahari