Bartle Bull (1) (1939–)

Packed shock-full of adventure, this novel definitely falls into the 'thumping good read' category and I was thrilled to revisit some characters I had grown fond of on discovery in the first book in the Anton Rider trilogy, The White Rhino Hotel. I would definitely recommend new readers start with that first book, but in a cinch, one could just as well pick up from here if one were, say, stuck somewhere with only this book on hand for some reason; I could wish a much worse fate upon anyone, show more trust me.

All the action takes place in 1935 on the African continent, mostly in Cairo, Egypt and in Abyssinia, as Ethiopia was mostly referred to back then. The novel begins on a luxurious café barge permanently moored on the bank of the Nile in central Cairo, where most of the actors in the drama that is about to unfold are present at a special event. Owned by the Goan dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alavedo, whom we'd met in the first novel, and who's ambition is as large as his features are small; the pleasure seeking Olivio has made a fortune with his unfailing business instincts and now has plans which include his friends to enlarge his fortune exponentially, as he buys up fertile land along the Nile, but as he does so he attracts some dangerous enemies.

Meanwhile, his old friend Anton Rider's business running Safari hunts for rich tourists has all but dried up, no thanks to the ongoing Great Depression, but he's finally secured some rich American clients: a pair of twin Kentucky heiresses and the artist fiancé of one of the very sexy Mills girls, who are not above dressing alike and (Bernadette being the engaged one) claiming to be Harriet while looking for a good time. Ready for any kind of adventure, they insist on being taken to Ethiopia for the incomparable sights and unique wildlife, even though Fascist Italy has been showing signs of an imminent invasion, or what to the modern reader is to become the second Italo-Ethiopian war. They get their money's worth as far as showing their mettle and prove to be tough cookies indeed.

Anton's estranged wife Gwenn has taken up medicine studies in Cairo, as well an Italian lover, the Colonel Lorenzo Grimaldi, who just happens to be the leader of the Italian air squadron. He is on his way to Ethiopia to, among other things, launch poison gas on the natives, though of course his lady friend isn't to know this, though she has more than strong suspicions that war is coming. Therefore, Gwenn on her side is determined to join up with the Red Cross in Ethiopia and use her medical studies, combined with her nursing experience from the first war to help the victims of casualties which her lover insists won't take exist since he denies there is to be an invasion to begin with. They are dancing a dangerous dance as Lorenzo has been putting her and her children up at his house and paying all their expenses, including the children's schooling, yet with this looming war he is not above making some heartless decisions while claiming to still care for her. It goes without saying that when Anton and Grimaldi briefly come face-to-face, the two men are bound to become archenemies.

Another of Anton's old friends, Ernst von Decken, has decided he will steal a cache of Italian silver coins and will eventually attract the savage attention of Grimaldi for his efforts. All these players make their separate way to Abyssinia toward their individual or group adventures, all of which involve plenty of danger, sex, and violence with just the right amount of daring and thrills, though lives aren't spared and plenty is sacrificed along the way. Olivio for his part remains on the Cairene home front to host a German specialist in dwarfism and fight off his murderous enemies with the help of his ever-loyal giant Nubian servant Tariq, while the other characters in this drama all somehow cross paths in Ethiopia during a horrible war, during which, among other things, Gwenn's Red Cross station is attacked and gassed by the Italian air forces, and the Mills twins capture some of the mustard gas attacks on film, and then have to run for their lives, while Grimaldi and his men hound them down, intent to kill them and destroy the film to ensure word doesn't get out on the international front that poison gas has been used and bring on sanctions for Italy. Bartle Bull has done his research well, though he's changed some dates, locations and details which he reveals in the closing pages. Among other things, his descriptions of the nature and wildlife which Anton Rider and his American clients encounter along the way proved to be especially rewarding as I kept the iPad nearby and looked up the many creatures and trees and plants until then unfamiliar to me, making me feel like I was on a nature discovery show. Thrills and chills provided as an extra bonus!

The pace is unrelenting and though I reluctantly had to put the book down because of sheer fatigue at night, I couldn't wait to get back to it as part of my nightly routine for a few days and was sorry when this riveting adventure was all over. Thankfully there's one more book in the trilogy to look forward to. show less

Bartle Bull has done it again. A rip-roaring adventure story with good guys and bad guys, and people caught between all told in the midst of World War II Cairo. Like the previous books in this series this one is full of characters you love and characters you love to hate. Unlike the other ones this book is set in the deserts of North Africa in 1941 & 1942 in the desperate days before the British Victory at El Alamain. The author manages to write about daily life behind the battle lines in show more Cairo as well as he writes about the battlefield. That author was able to convey in words the vastness and beauty of the desert while also describing the tyranny of survival in that extreme environment. He weaves fiction with non-fiction and makes the fighting in the deserts of North Africa real while also making the intrigue and personal and political maneuvering of life behind the front as interesting and lively. More than once I found myself thinking that I was reading an episode of Rat Patrol combined with the cold war antics of James Bond. Very exciting stuff and a wonderful read.

It was also a timely read in that the cities of Libya that are now in the news were also featured in the book and a work of fiction about World War II became something that helped to explain the country prominently in the news this summer. The endpiece of the copy I read had a wonderful map of the area which I really appreciated. Each chapter also featured a small drawing of some event, person, or object that figured prominently in the story. I found myself eagerly searching that picture for clues as to what was coming next. No doubt this work contributed to the cost of this book, but it added greatly to my pleasure in the reading. show less

Kenya just after the First World War has been opened up to ex-service men who are given a chance for land and a new life. Africa is harsh but beguiling and the characters reflect this. The shifting points of view allow us to see this world through different eyes as a cast of opportunists, established settlers, natives and newcomers fill the pages of this book.

Bartle Bull knows this land and tells the history of a few years at a pivotal point in time. As a picture of life this is a wonderful show more piece of storytelling. The love for a country and hope of life is captured in such a way that I was drawn into the story and hoped that things would end well. I must say that few of the characters are actually likeable all the time, and some of the violence (and sex) is sadistic, but that was all part of the highly descriptive nature of this book. In the end I found this book gritty and hard but also strangely appealing, just like Kenya. show less

After WWI, Great Britain held a lottery for its veterans , giving away large tracts of what is now Kenya. It was a new start and a promised breath of fresh air after the horrors of the trenches. There were far more applicants than land grants, Many of the winners had never been to Africa; some had disabilities from the war.

At this time, Africa was like the American wild west had been a century earlier. The new, untamed life was especially attractive to those without a place in British show more society – misfits, adventure seekers, younger sons of nobility, an adventurous gypsy. But while some sought their fortunes through legitimate pursuits such as farming and gold-prospecting, others used fraud and guns.

And so this novel is just plain gritty. Lots of big game hunting, but even more murders and rapes, thefts of land and dashed dreams – all those activities that exist just outside of the law. The native tribes were ousted from their traditional lands and treated as subhuman; it was certainly no crime to kill a black man.

Most offensive to me was also an oversexed dwarf who took a native twelve year old girl to teach as his paramour.

It was an eye opening look at the seamier side of British colonialism. I’m glad to have read it, but will pass on the sequels. show less