A Time to Die Mass Market Paperback – October 1, 1991

If you are looking for a story that will keep you riveted to the edge of your seat, look no further. I won't even go into Smith's story telling abilities. He is simply one of the best story tellers period.This story takes place in war torn Mozambique mostly, and is the continuation of the Courtney adventures. Mostly this revolves around Sean, who is the grandson of the original Sean Courtney.Not as long as some of the other stories in this series, but at 530 pages it's a substantial tale.Smith's knowledge of the bush war in Southern Africa is extraordinary even though he was born in Rhodesia. His knowledge of the how things work in Africa still astounds me. He will take you to another world in an adventure few authors can tell.I am so exhausted from this book, I am going to have to read something lighter before I take on the next one in the series.How anybody could give this less than 5 stars, is beyond me. Perhaps they have not read the previous stories in the series.To say this is a worthwhile read is a huge understatement.If you have the gumption, read this book. You won't be disappointed.

i have read most of Wilbur Smiths novels featuring the Courtney family of South Africa and found them to be terrific five star novels but this one fell a little shy of that for me. But that being said this book is very well written as always and is a total action thriller with a linear plot that just does not express the passion of previous books.The story begins when Sean Courtney, big game hunter, leads a safari in search of a trophy elephant that is the lifetime goal of Ricardo Montero the hunter, accompanied by his daughter Claudia who is totally repulsed by his desire to harvest the magnificent animal. The hunt consumes about the first two hundred pages of the book and ends in an extraordinary climax that is astounding. Unfortunately the hunt drags on and on and becomes quite tedious to follow.Upon return to camp Sean discovers that in his absence Claudia has been captured by the Renamo rebel forces led by the truly evil General China who are trying to retake their country of Mozambique held by the Frelemo government army. Sean catches up with the general and he is forced into an agreement to carry on a mission in order save the life of Claudia. What follows is an exciting journey that is bogged down with endless nighttime treks through the forest that despite being part of the story become redundant. The author does a wonderful job of describing the blood lust and savagery that exists along with the tribalism in modern Africa that continues to plague the African continent. There are many passages that are brutal but well done as usual by the author.Overall this is a very good adventure story but I found the relationship between Claudia and Sean to be to melodramatic and the feats of Sean approaching super hero level at times. Still a worthwhile read although I found the ending disappointing.

It's no secret that I like Wilbur Smith and have read most of his books so I'm a little biased when it comes to writing this review. The guy knows how to write an always interesting adventure novel and maybe a little more than that since he writes great African politics and history, great edge of your proverbial seat thrillers, and reminds a lot of us how little we actually know of African policies and the kind of prejudice that has little to do with color but more often to do with historical and bitter tribal fueds, power grabs, and underlying economics. He also writes of great loyalties; something that few books offer up these days so it's five stars for A Time to Die for another great read.Nicely done, Wilbur.

This is #11 in the 13 Volume saga of the Courtney Family. It traces their history from the 18th century right up to the 1960's. I have read these novels several times over, and they never get boring. On the contrary I find their epic adventures to be more exciting and stimulating every time I read them. One of his reviewers writes 'Only a handful of 20th Century writers tantalize our senses as well as Smith" (Tulsa World). It's the truth.

Typical Wilbur Smith Africa. The last of the Courtney books, set 1987. A very good historical fiction read that should be read in context with Smith's other 12 Courtney Africa books. The content is rough and graphic and will be disturbing for many readers. I have read all 13 of the Courtney books and have found them all to highly entertaining and educational. For anyone interested in African history this is highly recommended.

To call this book or Mr. Smith racist would be a mistake. The author demonstrates an intimate knowledge of african politics and is a well informed and well researched writer. You cannot truly grasp african politics unless you have lived there or read a book like this from Wilbur Smith. I have lived in Africa and I found the book illustrating the African struggle to survive in a technology-based era and the consequencial brutality and desperation of its nations to be true to life and riveting. If you want to learn something about Africa, put aside the preconceptions of the liberal media and get ready for a grimly realistic and action packed novel.

While it was a compelling book and it redeems Sean Courtney, there is a lot of graphic violence. His characters are vivid. What shines in many book of the Courtney Families series is the loyalty and devotion of the African men who act as the right-hand man for Sean. They add color and admiration to the books.