Book Review: Hawke

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Hawke     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Ted Bell
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Adventure
Atria, June 2003, $25.95, 370 pp.

Seven-year-old Alex Hawke is with his parents on their yacht when his father suddenly takes him into a secret room and tells him to hide. The pirate brothers, (Manso, Juanito, and Carlos) demand the treasure map that the pirate Blackhawke made before his hanging three centuries ago. They claim that BlackHawke stole the gold from their ancestor. They torture, rape and kill the Hawkes but fail to obtain the map, which is with Alex in the secret room.

Alex blocks out the tragedy and much of the first seven years of his life. He becomes a powerful and wealthy adult who does intelligence work for the British and the American governments. The de Herrera siblings become a force in the Cuban government having access to millions of dollars. They buy a stealth submarine from the Russians that is virtually undetectable and carries forty nuclear warheads. The trio obtains a biological weapon that they sneak into Guantanemo Bay, which they intend to use if the Americans don't vacate the base and lift the embargo. The Americans use intelligence gathered by Alex to make war plans but it is his destiny to have the final showdown with the men who killed his parents.

Move over James Bond, Lord Alex Hawke is on the scene and he is more realistic, believable and personable than Ian Fleming's character ever was. This is an action adventure thriller with the emphasis on action. There is no chance readers will ever feel ennui reading Hawke, a twenty first century pirate novel that takes place on the high seas and in a Cuba where Castro's control is waning.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner