The Diamond Hunters - Softcover

Smith, Wilbur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312989415 ISBN 13: 9780312989415

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005

Synopsis

The Van Der Byl Diamond Company, willed by its founder to his son Benedict, daughter Tracey and estranged foster-child Johnny Lance, turns out to be a bequest not of love, but of hatred. For it is couched in such terms as to offer Benedict an instrument of destruction of his bitterest rival. 'Destroy Johnny' was the old man's implacable message to his son, and, obsessively jealous of his foster-brother, Benedict sets out in ruthless pursuit of this goal.

In a desperate bid to support Johnny, Tracey acquires for him the concession in the diamond-rich seabed round the coral islands of Thunderbolt and Suicide off the savage South West African coast, and Johnny throws all his resources into the construction of a vessel that will recover the stones from the ocean floor and repair his fortune at last. But Benedict, already involved in illegal diamond-dealing as a sideline, seizes this chance to attack his rival and, with a network of accomplices and some ingenious electronic tampering, plots to syphon off the diamonds. Johnny will not only be ruined by his liabilities, he will also be a laughing stock.

However, Benedict's obsessive jealousy is his undoing. He cannot resist stripping his rival of his beautiful but bitchy wife Ruby as well, and when he then discards her, she takes her revenge, precipitating a climax of murder and destruction that consumes Benedict at last.

Narrated with Wilbur Smith's irresistible driving thrust, The Diamond Hunters is a tale of brotherly hatred, redeemed only by the deepening love between Johnny and Tracey. It is set in London, Cape Town, on the thunderous seas around the ocean diamond fields and ends in a final confrontation between Johnny and Benedict in the blistering hyena-infested desert.

About this title

About the Author

Wilbur Smith is the bestselling author of many novels, each meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. His bestselling Courtney series includes Assegai, The Sound of Thunder, Birds of Prey, Monsoon, and Blue Horizon. His other books include Those in Peril, River God, Warlock, The Seventh Scroll, and The Sunbird. His books are now translated into twenty-six languages and have sold over 120 million copies. Smith was born to a British family in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, in Central Africa, and attended Rhodes University in South Africa. He has homes in Cape Town, London, Switzerland and Malta.

From the Back Cover

New York Times bestselling author Wilbur Smith has set the standard for globe-spanning adventure, pulse-pounding suspense, and risk-it-all human drama. The Diamond Hunters delivers it―as two men with a passion for power fight to control a family legacy and
untold fortune in South Africa's dazzling and perilous emerald coast…

A FATHER'S LEGACY.
The Van Der Byl Diamond Company has been ruled to the death by its founder, Jacob, who has bequeathed the invaluable business to his son Benedict, his daughter Tracey, and unexpectedly to Johnny, his estranged foster-child―and his most bitter rival in diamond hunting. But the inheritance
does not come from paternal love, but from inconsolable hatred.

ONE SON AVENGED IT.
To Benedict, Jacob has made an unyielding demand…destroy Johnny. Ruthlessly jealous of his brother's success, Benedict vows to pursue his goal―across the roiling ocean waters that hide fabulous fortune
to the diamond-rich seabeds in the coral islands of Thunderbolt to a fabled cache of
riches waiting beneath the African earth.

ONE SON WOULD KILL FOR IT.
But as Tracey―and a long-lost love―enter the fray, what unfolds under the desert sun is a violent life-and-death struggle of greed, betrayal, passion, and murder that could consume them all.

"Smith is without rival."
--Tulsa World

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312989415
• ISBN 13: 9780312989415
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 352