Vengeance

Quirke finds himself at the center of a deadly intergenerational feud in the latest novel from Booker Prize-winning "literary polymath" ( The New York Times ) John Banville Two men go sailing off the coast of Ireland. Only one comes back, claiming the other shot himself. But Detective Inspector Hackett and his friend Quirke aren't so sure... The dead man is the patriarch of the powerful Delahaye family; the survivor is the scion of the Clancy family, their longtime rivals turned resentful business partners. As Quirke and Hackett investigate the death, they become embroiled in this multigenerational entanglement, encountering a host of characters at the heart of the mystery: Mona, Delahaye's beautiful, vicious young widow, his enigmatic identical twin sons, and Jack Clancy, his resentful, downtrodden, womanizing partner. But when a second, even more shocking death occurs, it becomes clear that terrible secrets undergird the families' world--secrets which Quirke will need to uncover if he wants to prevent more deaths.

Quirke finds himself at the center of a deadly intergenerational feud in the latest novel from Booker Prize-winning "literary polymath" ( The New York Times ) John Banville Two men go sailing off the coast of Ireland. Only one comes back, claiming the other shot himself. But Detective Inspector Hackett and his friend Quirke aren't so sure... The dead man is the patriarch of the powerful Delahaye family; the survivor is the scion of the Clancy family, their longtime rivals turned resentful business partners. As Quirke and Hackett investigate the death, they become embroiled in this multigenerational entanglement, encountering a host of characters at the heart of the mystery: Mona, Delahaye's beautiful, vicious young widow, his enigmatic identical twin sons, and Jack Clancy, his resentful, downtrodden, womanizing partner. But when a second, even more shocking death occurs, it becomes clear that terrible secrets undergird the families' world--secrets which Quirke will need to uncover if he wants to prevent more deaths.

Vengeance is a true story that reads like a novel. It is the account of five ordinary Israelis, selected to vanish into the cold of espionage secrecy -- their mission to hunt down and kill the PLO terrorists responsible for the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. This is the account of that secret mission, as related by the leader of the group -- the first Mossad agent to come out of deep cover and tell the story of a heroic endeavor that was shrouded in silence and speculation for years. He reveals the long and dangerous operation whose success was bought at a terrible cost to the idealistic volunteer agents themselves. Avner was the leader of that team, handpicked by Golda Meir to avenge the monstrous crime of Munich. He and his young companions, cut off from any direct contact with Israel, set out systematically to find and kill the central figures of the PLO's Munich operation, tracking them down wherever they lived. The mechanics, the horror, the day-by-day suspense of what they did surpass by far anything John le Carr or Robert Ludlum could imagine, as they themselves were tracked in turn (and some killed) by PLO assassins, changing identities constantly, moving from country to country, devoting their young lives to the brutal task of vengeance. Vengeance is a profoundly human document, a real-life espionage classic that plunges the reader into the shadow world of terrorism and political murder. But it goes far beyond that, to explore firsthand the feelings of disgust and doubt that gradually came to torment each member of the Israeli team, and that in the end inexorably changed their view of the mission -- and themselves. Vengeance opens a window onto a secret world, a book that at the same time inspires and horrifies. For its subject is an act of revenge that goes to the very heart of the ancient biblical questions of good and evil.

Vengeance is a true story that reads like a novel. It is the account of five ordinary Israelis, selected to vanish into the cold of espionage secrecy -- their mission to hunt down and kill the PLO terrorists responsible for the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. This is the account of that secret mission, as related by the leader of the group -- the first Mossad agent to come out of deep cover and tell the story of a heroic endeavor that was shrouded in silence and speculation for years. He reveals the long and dangerous operation whose success was bought at a terrible cost to the idealistic volunteer agents themselves. Avner was the leader of that team, handpicked by Golda Meir to avenge the monstrous crime of Munich. He and his young companions, cut off from any direct contact with Israel, set out systematically to find and kill the central figures of the PLO's Munich operation, tracking them down wherever they lived. The mechanics, the horror, the day-by-day suspense of what they did surpass by far anything John le Carr or Robert Ludlum could imagine, as they themselves were tracked in turn (and some killed) by PLO assassins, changing identities constantly, moving from country to country, devoting their young lives to the brutal task of vengeance. Vengeance is a profoundly human document, a real-life espionage classic that plunges the reader into the shadow world of terrorism and political murder. But it goes far beyond that, to explore firsthand the feelings of disgust and doubt that gradually came to torment each member of the Israeli team, and that in the end inexorably changed their view of the mission -- and themselves. Vengeance opens a window onto a secret world, a book that at the same time inspires and horrifies. For its subject is an act of revenge that goes to the very heart of the ancient biblical questions of good and evil.

ENEMIES BY BIRTH. BROTHERS IN BLOOD. VENGEANCE WILL BE HAD. Praise for Wilbur Smith 'I don't believe I have ever read an author whose work I loved as much' Conn Iggulden 'A master storyteller' Sunday Times 'No one does adventure quite like Smith' Daily Mirror 'Best historical novelist' Stephen King 1829. Mahikeng Mission Station. Highveld, southern Africa. The warrior king is dead. Ralph Courtney and Ann Waite have escaped. From the chaos and bloodshed that consumed the Zulu nation after the murder of King Shaka. From Ralph's enemies. From the man who would have enslaved Ann and sold her to the highest bidder. Now Ralph and Ann, and their son Harry, are safe. Rescued by the missionaries at Mahikeng, they can finally dream of a new life. Or can they . . . ? Can Ralph finally lay to rest the ghosts that haunt him? Can Ann overcome the enemy she believed they'd escaped forever? Can Harry make his peace with the secrets and lies that have shaped his life? On a blood-soaked battlefield, as a new nation is forged in violence and slaughter, all three will be given a choice - to succumb to the past, or to stand and fight for their family's future. Blood, vengeance and destiny collide in book 8 of the Birds of Prey sequence and the latest thrilling instalment in the Courtney series from the bestselling master of adventure, Wilbur Smith.

ENEMIES BY BIRTH. BROTHERS IN BLOOD. VENGEANCE WILL BE HAD. Praise for Wilbur Smith 'I don't believe I have ever read an author whose work I loved as much' Conn Iggulden 'A master storyteller' Sunday Times 'No one does adventure quite like Smith' Daily Mirror 'Best historical novelist' Stephen King 1829. Mahikeng Mission Station. Highveld, southern Africa. The warrior king is dead. Ralph Courtney and Ann Waite have escaped. From the chaos and bloodshed that consumed the Zulu nation after the murder of King Shaka. From Ralph's enemies. From the man who would have enslaved Ann and sold her to the highest bidder. Now Ralph and Ann, and their son Harry, are safe. Rescued by the missionaries at Mahikeng, they can finally dream of a new life. Or can they . . . ? Can Ralph finally lay to rest the ghosts that haunt him? Can Ann overcome the enemy she believed they'd escaped forever? Can Harry make his peace with the secrets and lies that have shaped his life? On a blood-soaked battlefield, as a new nation is forged in violence and slaughter, all three will be given a choice - to succumb to the past, or to stand and fight for their family's future. Blood, vengeance and destiny collide in book 8 of the Birds of Prey sequence and the latest thrilling instalment in the Courtney series from the bestselling master of adventure, Wilbur Smith.