Click Here To Purchase Relentless Pursuit

Author: Peter Borchard

Publisher: iUniverse Publishing

ISBN-10: 1462034454:   ISBN-13: 978-1462034451


Relentless Pursuit is a historical novel set in the middle of the first decade of the 20th century in Angola and Southwest Africa. It was a time when the region was controlled by European colonial powers, and the indigenous peoples were none too happy about it. The central character is Werner von Dewitz, a German officer in the army of Kaiser Wilhelm II assigned the task of infiltrating a gun-running operation that is causing political turmoil when it crosses borders between German and Portuguese run regions. In particular, the guns are being sold to the Herero, a native tribe revolting against the imperialism that oppresses them. Fluent in several languages,   Dewitz plays a Portuguese manufacturing representative to get inside the gun brokers network while working with military officers and intelligence agents of two countries in his, well, relentless pursuit of the outlaws.

The book is gripping and engrossing on several levels. For one matter, the settings are vividly sketched with constantly changing battlegrounds from steam ships to rail trains to desert forts to wagon trains to a diamond mine to barges and warships as man fights man and man fights nature. Borchard is adept at capturing the terrain of a continent he knows first-hand and is believable in bringing the time period alive in an era of telegrams, wagon trains, and German military officers with monocles and waxed mustaches who can dance to waltzes.

The story is fast-paced with Dewitz quickly moving from one setting to another with a growing circle of comrades who have sub-plots of their own. For example, representing the Portuguese government, Captain Louis de Sousa is an amiable and reliable comrade in arms as are the native servants, Philippe and Paulo. At any given time, Werner and his aides are exploring one angle of the investigation while Louis and his friends are pursuing another. They need this multiple assault as the operation they are uncovering has one layer after another they must crack open to lead to the ultimate kingpin. Then there are the two women competing for Werner’s affections, Maria, the mistress of gun runner Dos Santos, and Dorothea Eggers, the nurse who attends Werner’s wounds more than once in a desert mission.

Relentless Pursuit is rich high adventure of the old-fashioned variety with well-sketched characters, continually shifting rough and wild settings, and trails winding through political corruption, conflicting loyalties, and impassioned duels with both European and native weapons of war. It reads like a classic that could have been written during the time in which it is set and is well worth wider appreciation. One suspects the name Peter Borchard is going to become one associated with action-adventure of a high quality indeed.

Click Here To Purchase Relentless Pursuit