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A review by komet2020
The Devil's Oasis by Bartle Bull
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
The Devil's Oasis is the third novel in the Anton Rider series in which many of the characters from the earlier novels, along with some new ones, are given voice and form.
The story begins in Egypt in September 1939, when the news of Britain's declaration of war on Nazi Germany reaches Olivio Fonseca Alavedo. He's the diminutive and enterprising Goan, proprietor of the Cataract Cafe in Cairo, and a proud father of several daughters and a son. He is concerned for his longtime friends Anton Rider and his estranged wife Gwenn, who has taken up with a wily and arrogant French archeologist (Giscard de Neuville). Anton, who makes his living organizing and staging safaris for wealthy Westerners eager to experience the thrill of the hunt in the open spaces of Africa, has always had a bit of a nomadic spirit. While he continues to harbor a deep affection for his wife and is devoted to their 2 sons, Wellington and Denby, Anton has always been a rolling stone. Which is why he and Gwenn (now a practicing physician) have led largely separate lives for more than a decade. It seems that their shared love for each other and their sons isn't enough to make Anton settle for a more ordered existence with Gwenn.
The war figures prominently in the novel, spanning the years 1939 to 1942. Wellington, impatient to be a part of the action, forgoes university, to enlist in the Army. After receiving his training in England, he returns as part of a distinguished unit which later goes into action against the Italians in Libya and Western Egypt. Anton also finds himself caught up in the conflict after having been sought out by British officers in Cairo to join their ranks and use his considerable trekking and hunting skills to train and lead men on nocturnal missions deep inside enemy territory. During one of these actions, Anton encounters his old friend Ernst von Decken, who is now on the enemy side, wishing to settle scores with the British.
The tension at times in The Devil's Oasis is hot, often boiling over. The hazards and perils of Anton's work behind the lines is well told, as is Wellington's service alongside the Free French and French Foreign Legion in the defense of the fort Bir Hakeim during May and June 1942 when it seemed likely that Italo-German forces under the able leadership of General Erwin Rommel would triumph over British and Commonwealth Forces and succeed in moving into Egypt and gaining control of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. All the while Olivio Alavedo has been involved in a number of intrigues centered around a rare archeological find he made in secret and the efforts of Gwen's lover, to claim Alavedo's find for his own and destroy him .
Simply put, this novel has all the hallmarks of a ripping yarn, with adventure, shifting alliances, romance, and high stakes espionage. And now, onward to the fourth (and final) novel of the series.
The story begins in Egypt in September 1939, when the news of Britain's declaration of war on Nazi Germany reaches Olivio Fonseca Alavedo. He's the diminutive and enterprising Goan, proprietor of the Cataract Cafe in Cairo, and a proud father of several daughters and a son. He is concerned for his longtime friends Anton Rider and his estranged wife Gwenn, who has taken up with a wily and arrogant French archeologist (Giscard de Neuville). Anton, who makes his living organizing and staging safaris for wealthy Westerners eager to experience the thrill of the hunt in the open spaces of Africa, has always had a bit of a nomadic spirit. While he continues to harbor a deep affection for his wife and is devoted to their 2 sons, Wellington and Denby, Anton has always been a rolling stone. Which is why he and Gwenn (now a practicing physician) have led largely separate lives for more than a decade. It seems that their shared love for each other and their sons isn't enough to make Anton settle for a more ordered existence with Gwenn.
The war figures prominently in the novel, spanning the years 1939 to 1942. Wellington, impatient to be a part of the action, forgoes university, to enlist in the Army. After receiving his training in England, he returns as part of a distinguished unit which later goes into action against the Italians in Libya and Western Egypt. Anton also finds himself caught up in the conflict after having been sought out by British officers in Cairo to join their ranks and use his considerable trekking and hunting skills to train and lead men on nocturnal missions deep inside enemy territory. During one of these actions, Anton encounters his old friend Ernst von Decken, who is now on the enemy side, wishing to settle scores with the British.
The tension at times in The Devil's Oasis is hot, often boiling over. The hazards and perils of Anton's work behind the lines is well told, as is Wellington's service alongside the Free French and French Foreign Legion in the defense of the fort Bir Hakeim during May and June 1942 when it seemed likely that Italo-German forces under the able leadership of General Erwin Rommel would triumph over British and Commonwealth Forces and succeed in moving into Egypt and gaining control of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. All the while Olivio Alavedo has been involved in a number of intrigues centered around a rare archeological find he made in secret and the efforts of Gwen's lover, to claim Alavedo's find for his own and destroy him .
Simply put, this novel has all the hallmarks of a ripping yarn, with adventure, shifting alliances, romance, and high stakes espionage. And now, onward to the fourth (and final) novel of the series.