From Publishers Weekly
Llewellyn has written good, workmanlike novels about British sport-sailing (Dead Reckoning) and this is a definite contender for big, commercial success. The novel follows the adventures of a dozen main characters and a score of lesser lights in a Great Circle race running almost eight months via a circuit of Portsmouth-Cape Town-Sydney-Rio-Portsmouth. The competitors battle each other, the weather, often their own shipmates and always the sea. The sailors race for various reasons (the American skipper, Art Schacker, is trying to save his Marblehead fishery; Englishman Ed Cole to save his reputation) and the landlubbers have other motives (lawyer DuCane hopes to get control of a Boston yacht club, Aussie booze tycoon Harry Redd wants glory and fun). Amidst a plethora of motives and maneuvering, Llewellyn provides a brisk around-the-world yarn with lots of nautical details. None of the characters is very deep, but the book sails along at a nice clip until the fairly predictable but satisfying ending.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The Lancaster Great Circle around-the-world yacht race is the setting for this novel of seaborne adventure. Traversing the race's four legsfrom Portsmouth, England via Capetown, Sydney, and Rio de Janeirothe crew members of eight racing sail yachts try to prove themselves against the elements and each other. From alcoholic TV interviewer Dave Kelly to solid ship's captain Art Schacker, from "sleek blonde mink" Ellie DuCane to love-struck lawyer Harriet Agnew, from grizzled sailing master Ed Cole to dilettante Georg Fischer, the crews cover the range of human types. During this epic journey, their lives become closely bound in a narrative that builds to climax and resolution at race's end. Recommended for sailing buffs and adventure readers. William C. McCully, Park Ridge P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
