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Saving Paradise Paperback – November 20, 2012

by Mike Bond (Author)

1,823 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Pono Hawkins Thriller

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An action packed, must read novel ... " - WASHINGTON TIMESWhen a beautiful journalist drowns mysteriously off Waikiki, former Special Forces veteran Pono Hawkins, now a well-known surfer and international surfing correspondent, quickly gets caught up in trying to solve her death. What he learns soon targets him for murder or life in prison as a cabal of powerful energy corporations, foreign killers and crooked politicians focuses the blame on him.Haunted by memories of Afghanistan, and determined to protect the Hawaii he loves from dirty politics tied to huge destructive energy developments, Pono turns to Special Forces buddies and his own skills to fight his deadly enemies, trying to both save himself and track down her killers.Alive with the sights, sounds and history of Hawaii, Saving Paradise is also a rich portrait of what Pono calls "the seamy side of paradise", and a relentless thriller of politics, lies, manhunts and remorseless murder."A rousing crime thriller." - BOOK CHASE

Print length

348 pages
Language

English
Publication date

November 20, 2012
Reading age

16 years and up
Dimensions

6 x 0.87 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1627040013
ISBN-13

978-1627040013
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A complex, entertaining ... lusciously convoluted story." - KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Bond is easily one of the 21st Century's most exciting authors ... An action packed, must read novel ... taking readers behind the alluring façade of Hawaii's pristine beaches and tourist traps into a festering underworld of murder, intrigue and corruption." - WASHINGTON TIMES

"Saving Paradise will change you ... It is a thrill ride to read." - WHERE TRUTH MEETS FICTION

"A fascinating book." - KSFO, SAN FRANCISCO

"A highly atmospheric thriller focusing on a side of Hawaiian life that tourists seldom see." - BOOK CHASE

"Bond's vivid descriptions of Hawaii bring Saving Paradise vibrantly to life." - BOOK REVIEWS AND MORE

"From start to finish, I never put it down." - BUCKET LIST PUBLICATIONS

"A wonderful book ... quite powerful." - KUSA TV, DENVER

"A fabulous book." - ART ZUCKERMAN, WVOX

"An absolute page-turner." - ECOTOPIA RADIO

"He's a tough guy, a cynic who describes the problems of the world as a bottomless pit, but can't stop trying to solve them. He's Pono Hawkins, the hero of Mike Bond's new Hawaii-based thriller, Saving Paradise ... an intersection of fiction and real life." - HAWAII PUBLIC RADIO

"One heck of a crime novel/thriller and highly recommended!" - CRYSTAL BOOK REVIEWS

"A very well written, fast-paced and exciting thriller." - MYSTERY MAVEN REVIEWS

"A fast pace thrill ride ... The descriptions of Hawaii are beautiful and detailed." - ROMANCEBOOKWORM'S REVIEWS

"A wonderful book that everyone should read." - CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO

From the Author

Of Readers and Writers ...

We delight in stories, Aristotle says, because we learn from them. This search for awareness - gathering the meaning of things - is, he says, our greatest pleasure. Aeons ago we sat round the fire in our Paleolithic caves with the cold darkness and the great unknown at our backs, sharing stories about where the antelope herds were or how to escape the cave bear or the lion, stories about our ancestors and the meaning of this magical mystery of life.

None of that has changed: stories still portray and share our experiences, teach us of dangers and opportunities and of right and wrong ways of living, exchange our visions of existence. They give us multiple lives, and we gain awareness from each one.

Awareness is wisdom, and philosophy simply means a love of wisdom. Stories bring us this awareness, and awareness makes us free. Freedom allows us to live more deeply, and thus to deepen our awareness of life's many meanings. It is a great circle where our understanding is constantly growing.

We rarely sit now at campfires with danger at our backs, but it is important to remember those days, and to understand the dangers that stalk us today. Homer, Tolstoi, Gogol, Hugo, Némirovsky, Hemingway - what makes them great today is that their stories still help us gather the meaning of things, bring us the awareness tantamount to wisdom, make our lives freer and deeper through understanding.

To be a writer or a reader is a great gift, yin and yang, neither existing without the other. As Camus said, "to create is to live twice", and reading is creating just as is writing - and through it we can live and gather the meaning of many lives. Gathering the meaning of things is our greatest pleasure because it is the most important act of life, the act of understanding. And the moment we stop we cease to live.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mandevilla Press (November 20, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 348 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1627040013
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1627040013
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.03 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.87 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,310,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,210 in Sea Adventures Fiction (Books)
- #6,586 in Assassination Thrillers (Books)
- #9,879 in Political Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,823 ratings

About the author

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Mike Bond

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Called "master of the existential thriller" by BBC, "one of America's best thriller writers" by Culture Buzz, and "one of the 21st century's most exciting authors" by the Washington Times, Mike Bond is a best-selling novelist, war and human rights journalist, and environmental activist. He has covered guerrilla wars, death squads, and military dictatorships in Latin America and Africa, Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, and ivory poaching and other environmental battles in East Africa and Asia.

His critically acclaimed novels take the reader into intense situations in the world's most perilous places, into wars, revolutions, dangerous love affairs and political and corporate conspiracies, making "readers sweat with [their] relentless pace." (Kirkus) and drawing them "into a land and a time I had not known but left me with my senses reeling." (NetGalley Reviews)

His books have been named among the best of the year by reviewers and readers alike. He speaks multiple languages, has climbed and trekked over 50,000 miles on every continent from the Antarctic to Siberia, and is at home in some of the most primitive and dangerous places on the planet.

Customer reviews

5 star		35%
4 star		30%
3 star		21%
2 star		9%
1 star		6%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

I bought a book by Mike Bond several months ago (which turned out to be #3 in a series) and loved it...well I liked it a lot. I learned quite a lot about a few things and enjoyed the experience. I was looking forward to this book as it was mentioned as #1 in the "Pono" series. It took a few months to actually get to the reading point. At first it moved right along, but it got bogged down in its message, really bogged down! To the point that #1is this the same author? And #2 do I care enough about the problems as described in the book (yes I do care and I am glad I got better acquainted with them) but finally #3 Do I want to finish wading through the politic stuff? The answer was of course I have to finish it, I started it! I am really glad I did because the final 20% was well worth the slogging (plus I had learned a lot). Mr Bond tied it up nicely with zip ties and brought it together by explaining it all : who, what, where, when, and how! After having decided that I would never read another of his books (I had already added 5 more to my library) ☺ I am now looking forward to #2 set in Maine. Different scenery for sure! By the way, I would recommend it if you don't mind a little work to get through it. Fast paced and furious. No one can be in that good shape, can they?!

3 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

A bit repetitive

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

It seems he wrote the details of the conspiracy about a half dozen times. It makes me wonder if he had a page quota to fill.

Amazon Customer Roger

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Liked the story, the veteran and his buddies working together. Bringing in the political environment and corporate "control" was heavy while environmental activism was all but ignored. Also the style was repetitive, too many references back to what had already been "processed" by Pono. I do recommend the book primarily for storyline contribution.

Great Story but fell short

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a great story but the main Character Pono the author made him sound like a meat head towards the end of the book. The way the characters was talking it became irritating to me. I loved all the twist and turns in the story it makes you want to turn the pages. Pono seemed to be a strong loving man who served his country who understood the political function of Big Wind and it's impact on the environment especially in a place like Hawaii. I wish the author would of stayed strong with the main character Pono life and situation started off strong his desire to solve the reporters murder and his ability to evade getting caught by using his special forces military training. I appreciate the story to get me to think about the actual cost of good sound environmental policy and the more this story went on the more I realized the big wind is not the answer for a green economy. When policy moves away from individuals doing the right thing to corporations only doing it for the huge wind fall of subsidies in the form of tax dollars there is a serious problem with the policy. Thank you for making me realize our policy on this issue is broken.

5 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

It has more twist and turns that I have ever read. It's a I don't want to put it down book.

Surreal persistence

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

Having travelled to the Islands 50 years ago and being a fan of Magnam PI and Hawaii 50, I was easily engaged in the author's presentation of the beauty, the geography and the culture of the story's setting. And the one man against many forms of "bad" plot line kept the suspense high. The one element not fully developed was the reason for our hero's relentless drive for resolution. Against this the author kept continual mystery surrounding the cast of other characters _ friend or foe? So, you know the hero will win, but how and with who.

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

Definitely didn't expect this when I got it. Really enjoyed the storyline and characters. Lots of action, and different things going on at the same time. Some of the wording was odd, but I think it's because that is how the natives speak and i m just not used to it.💁 definitely recommend this book! I was hooked after the first couple characters,and had to know what happened next.

One person found this helpful

HollisterBulldawg

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2021

Verified Purchase

Different type of thriller. Eco-surfer dude meets nasty wind power consortium, crooked politicians, and an endless stream of hot babes. Being ex-Special Forces allows him to survive constant death adventures. With the help of his Deus Ex Machina partner in a wheelchair, he can electronically tap any phone or email at anytime. The ending wraps up everything with a nice bow. I wish the author had planed better and had the book end with realistic resolution. It helps if you are a liberal to get through this book. Not so interesting if you have stock in wind energy.

Top reviews from other countries

Pamela Green

Great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2020

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this book as it was realistic. The 'goody ' didn't kill all the 'badies'. He dealt with them. His feelings of fear and desperation were believable as were the corrupt officials. I also liked the plane crash solving lots of problems in the end.

Lazy Lady

Give it 10 pages and you'll be hooked!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Couldn't put it down once I got my head around d the writing style and slang. Really good to follow Pono on his àttempts to find the devil and punish it.

IRENE CLARK

ok

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

but didnt really enjoy this book

T C

Bravo author!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great stuff, not as good as his trilogy but still far above so much digital dross.

3 people found this helpful

Kim 007

Horrible book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Rubbish book. Not written in concise English and a real let down. thank goodness I bought second hand and not full price

4 people found this helpful

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