Rating
4.32 of 5 Votes: 3
ISBN
0552147958 (ISBN13: 9780552147958)
Publisher
transworld publishers
BOOK REVIEW BY JILL SMITH © May 2002‘Shadow of the Osprey’ is a must read follow on from ‘Cry of the Curlew’. The family conflict between the Duffy and McIntosh families continues to follow the burgeoning growth of the Australian nation. The savagery of this new frontier is accompanied by espionage and diplomatic games played on the chessboard of a harsh unforgiving landscape. As those who’ve already read and enjoyed ‘Cry of the Curlew’ will gladly agree, this book follows the growth of the characters. In many ways, the harsh reality of the world Peter has created for them, has made them ‘grow up.’Enid McIntosh continues to hold her bitterness at her husband Douglas and eldest son Angus untimely deaths, causing an erosion of her control of the family business to Granville White, her nephew and her daughter Fiona’s husband. Her deep distrust of the young man thirsting for power is ignited into a flame of hate when she discovers her beloved son David was killed and that Granville had a hand in his demise. Fiona is no longer the naïve young girl who had fallen completely for the charismatic young Michael Duffy. She, unwittingly, has become a pawn in the game of revenge played out by Granville and his sister Penelope.Michael Duffy hardly recognises himself and deliberately passes himself off as a Yankee mercenary. Kate, nee Duffy, has forged an independent life for herself running a bullock wagon business and supply store, where she raises her children, one her own and the other two her dead bushranger brother Tom’s half-caste son and daughter, and gains great respect and notoriety on the frontier.There is a subtle and vital input by many of the minor characters. Morrison Mort, the former policeman and now Captain of the Osprey, continues to become more repugnant with each encounter. His military flair for combat leaves the reader wondering if he’ll ever come to grief, when it does, it is totally fitting. A big German barman known as Uncle Max, is willing to protect the junior members of the Duffy family with his life if need be. When he does this and changes the life of his charge forever. The twelve-year-old Patrick Duffy, son of Michael and Fiona, becomes another pawn in the McIntosh power struggle. Peter is himself a very generous writer who is more than willing to speak to fellow minded people about his mass-market work. He unashamedly targets his audience and markets his work professionally, once again to be rewarded with an international selling product. I am looking forward to continuing the Duffy vs McIntosh saga in ‘Flight of the Eagle’. Please join me in being the proud owner of this family epic.
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