To Kill the Leopard - Hardcover

Taylor, Theodore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151240973 ISBN 13: 9780151240975

Publisher: Harcourt, 1993

Synopsis

In a war filled with espionage, patriotism, and psychological warfare, American merchant mariner Sully Jordan takes an active role in searching out a Nazi U-boat with leopards painted on its conning tower

About this title

About the Author

THEODORE TAYLOR (1921-2006), an award-winning author of many books for young people, was particularly known for fast-paced, exciting adventure novels. His books include the bestseller The Cay, Timothy of the Cay, The Bomb, Air Raid--Pearl Harbor!, Ice Drift, The Maldonado Miracle, and The Weirdo, an Edgar Award winner for Best Young Adult Mystery.

Reviews

YA-During World War II, deadly attacks were made upon unarmed merchant marine ships by German U-boats. Galveston Scully is a merchant mariner who survives two such sinkings at the hands of Horst Kammerer, who derives ruthless pleasure in sinking ships, even those he knows are carrying evacuated British children. The plot develops slowly, introducing the main characters through dialogue that reveals their flaws and strengths. Adding to the inevitable showdown between Scully and Kammerer is a subplot involving a French spy who loves Kammerer but passes on information to cripple the U-boats. Once her treachery is revealed to the commander, he becomes even more greedy to sink the 100,000 tons needed to earn the Knight's Cross. With so many techno-thrillers on the market and with today's youth often unaware of the sea battles fought during World War II, this portrayal of seagoing life at the time is a diverting offering.
Pam Spencer, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A high-impact techno-thriller, this first adult novel by YA author Taylor ( The Weirdo ) brings readers into the heart of WW II's Battle of the Atlantic. American merchant marine officer Sully Jordan sails on oil tankers. Kap i tan leut nant Horst Kammerer specializes in sinking them, and the leopard insignia on the conning tower of his U-boat symbolizes its commander's killer instinct. The men have their first encounter in March 1941 in the north Atlantic, where Kammerer's torpedoes turn Jordan's ship into a flaming torch. Then, a month after Pearl Harbor, the German captain strikes again, sinking Jordan's new tanker off the Virginia coast. The American takes command of a Q-ship, a decoy tanker with concealed weapons, and goes leopard hunting. The novel sustains interest from first page to last with an exciting story line that climaxes in an enthralling final duel between Jordan and Kammerer. Taylor draws his characters, merchant sailors and U-boat crewmen alike, with vivid realism--the portrait of Kammerer, in particular, captures the reckless spirit of a successful U-boat commander--and accurately depicts such settings as a U-boat base at Lorient in occupied France. A major subplot cogently delineates the risks taken by the French underground and the horrors of Gestapo interrogation. To Kill the Leopard is a winner .
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In his first adult novel, Taylor (author of the excellent YA novel The Cay ) turns to the Battle of the Atlantic (1940-44). Taking its title from the insignia painted on Horst Kammerer's submarine U-122, the narrative cuts back and forth between naval action on the North Atlantic and America's east coast with glimpses of action in Britain and France. Main characters Kammerer and Sullivan Jordan, a U.S. Merchant Marine officer who has already had two tankers on which he served torpedoed, head for a final struggle in which only one will survive. Sea fiction enthusiasts will be disappointed, however: the plot is too predictable; technical details such as those found in Tom Clancy's technothrillers is lacking; and Jordan in no way compares to main characters such as Ericson and Lockhart in Nicholas Monsarrat's classic The Cruel Sea or Gedney and MacDougall in Kenneth Dodson's Away All Boats. Not recommended.
- Harold N. Boyer, Marple P. L., Broomall, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151240973
• ISBN 13: 9780151240975
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316