Wildtrack (The Thrillers #1) - Hardcover

Cornwell, Bernard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399133755 ISBN 13: 9780399133756

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1988

Synopsis

Captain Nicholas Sandman, a crippled war hero stripped of all he loves, discovers that his beloved ketch "Sycorax" has been destroyed and agrees to navigate the luxury yacht "Wildtrack" in a perilous sea race plagued by dark secrets

About this title

About the Author:

Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Agincourt; the bestselling Saxon Tales, which include The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, and Sword Song; and the Richard Sharpe novels, among many others. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod.

From Publishers Weekly:

Some readers may quibble at the ambiguous ending, but Cornwell's first modern-day novel, after Redcoat and the Sharpe series, works very nicely. Narrator Nick Sandman, Falkland Islands hero and Victoria Cross recipient, is determined not only to walk again after a war wound but also to sail his ketch Sycorax to New Zealand. After two years' hospitalization, he is, barely, walking again, but Nick's return to Devon finds Sycorax beached and vandalized, apparently at the behest of TV talk-show host Tony Bannister. Legal difficulties force Nick into making a TV movie for Bannister in exchange for salvaging Sycorax. Complications arise immediately: Bannister is out to win the Cherbourg-Saint Pierre race and wants Nick to be navigator; Bannister's ex-father-in-law is out to avenge his daughter's "murder" aboard Bannister's ocean racer Wildtrack and wants Nick to help; Bannister's beautiful mistress Angela is out to make that TV movie; and Nick falls in love with Angela. The climax comes with Nick racing across the Atlantic in a howling gale to prevent Bannister's murder. Even landlubbers will enjoy Cornwell's terrific pacing, colorful characters and dry humor, and perhaps, will learn a few things, too (e.g., in sailing jargon, "scuttles" means portholes). Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0399133755
• ISBN 13: 9780399133756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320