Killer's Wake [Hardcover]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Occasionally tripped up by tangled nautical jargon, Cornwell ( Wildtrack ) nevertheless delivers a pretty fair yarn. John Rossendale, 28th Earl of Stowey, is a 30-ish semi-rebel who has escaped his nasty, impoverished family by bumming around the world in his sailboat Sunflower . He returns to England in time to receive a maternal death-bed curse and then, before he can get away again, is embroiled in a search for the "Stowey Van Gogh." Stolen years ago (John was a suspect), the lost family heirloom is lusted after by a mega-rich tycoon. To provide for his only nice sibling, the retarded Georgina, Rossendale agrees to help find the Van Gogh, which is being held for ransom, and to give it to the tycoon. Rossendale also succumbs to the charms of the tycoon's step-daughter (herself a contessa) and thinks about settling down. But first there's a mystery to solve and perils to face, culminating in a foggy duel in dangerous Channel waters. The narrator-hero is a bit precious ("Call me John," his lordship says, often) but his story is an amusing read.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; 1st edition (August 14, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399134581
• ISBN-13: 978-0399134586
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 - a 'warbaby' - whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government - and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars - and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer's Wake, May 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer's Wake (Mass Market Paperback)

Killer's Wake and Sealord (both by Bernard Cornwell) are one and the same book published under two different titles. Great book but no need to buy both.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brit-aristo whodunit and wherisit, March 2, 2007

By 

John Bonavia (Needham, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Killer's Wake (Mass Market Paperback)

Bernard Cornwell, known for his historical series such as the "Sharpe" books set around the Napoleonic wars and the medieval tales of archer William of Hookton, also in 1989 turned out a pretty good contemporary thriller. Whodunit? but what they "dun" is not a murder (though death makes an appearance) but the theft of a multi-million dollar Van Gogh, the main resource of a, as the phrase goes, "somewhat decayed" English earldom. Wherisit? And the main suspect is the earl himself, John Rossendale, the hero of the story, who in disgust at being cast as the "black sheep of the family" has taken to the sea, roaming the world, somewhat in Jimmy Buffet style, except that instead of Hawaiian shirts and margaritas, we are talking ragged jeans and nasty weather in the North Atlantic.

Of course such a valuable mystery attracts much "interest" from many quarters, including some very bad guys...Good plot with nice twists and of course Cornwell knows how to craft a narrative line. I finished it in one sitting.

For some reason he seems to have goofed badly in the nautical department, a couple of times: our earl is running up the English Channel before a south-westerly gale: a huge wave sets his boat over on her starboard side and water floods in "over the port gunwale" ? Righted, he turns into to land for shelter - so he has turned north, the wind would be on his port quarter, but he says "boom was out to port" - no it wasn't! Surprising, since everything else seems fine. (Hence 4 stars)

But a very good read, anyway.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sailing & Ocean delight, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer's Wake (Mass Market Paperback)

A wonderful ocean setting. A great mystery involving suspense and some romance. I enjoyed the description of sailing techniques and the terminology. A wonderful ending, too!