Kiwi Wars (Fancy Jack Crossman Novels) [Hardcover]

Garry Douglas Kilworth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008 | Series: Fancy Jack Crossman Novels

A Captain Jack Crossman Adventure - Captain Fancy Jack Crossman has been sent to New Zealand, where the Maori Wars are in progress. His remit is to map the bush country and to set up a network of spies. During conflict he finds that the Maori are an honourable people. However, nefarious Europeans are at work, enriching themselves as land agents. Jack realizes just how heinous these crimes are, and he must hunt down and destroy these monstrous elements . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in 1860, Kilworth's solid eighth military adventure novel (after Rogue Officer) takes series hero Capt. Fancy Jack Crossman to New Zealand, a recently acquired British colony whose natives, the Maori, are in revolt. Tasked with setting up a spy network among the Maori, Jack must also deal with an unscrupulous land agent, Abe Wynter, whose younger brother happens to be a private under Jack's command. A gold rush complicates Jack's mission, and he soon finds himself doing his best to maintain his standards of honor and humanity in the heat of a battle that includes the lethal rapid-firing steam gun. Patrick O'Brian fans will notice similarities between Crossman and Capt. Jack Aubrey (each has a wife waiting back home in England, and each is tempted to stray), but those who prefer straightforward action in the vein of Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series will be most satisfied. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

Captain Jack Crossman is sent to New Zealand in 1860 during the battles between the British and the Maori tribes. The few men under Captain “Fancy” Jack’s command usually pose as a mapmaking detail to mask their true work in espionage, but this time they really are making maps. Jack finds this dull, but he does truly admire the Maori, who are skilled warriors with their own code of ethics. He is far less enamored of one of the colony’s wealthiest men, a pugnacious, self-serving, and cunning land agent and brother to Jack’s own private Harry Wynter. Jack engages him to act as his agent and acquire a farm for him, in spite of the man’s sketchy reputation. This leads Jack into a moral quandary about the war and his own desire to secure land that is not rightfully his. An excellent addition to the Fancy Jack Crossman series as Jack must once again deal with conflicts between the British army and his own well-honed conscience. --Patty Engelmann

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers; First Edition edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727866044
• ISBN-13: 978-0727866042
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,352,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crossman on to New Zealand, July 31, 2008

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D. Lewis "book lover extraordinaire" (Mandeville, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kiwi Wars (Fancy Jack Crossman Novels) (Hardcover)

This is the 8th book in the Jack Crossman series. As he enters New Zealand, it is in the middle of the Maori Wars. These are reminiscent of the war in the American West, with the Indians. Course the Maoris are a different kettle of fish than say the Apaches but both were fighting to stay in their homes, while the encrouchment of the white men decided not to allow this. You learn a bit of the Maori culture and temperament. A good yarn, with lots of excitement.