Ivory

By: Tony Park

Narrated by: Mark Davis

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

Simultaneous release of the eagerly awaited latest title from best-selling thriller writer, set in Mozambique and South Africa. Guaranteed to appeal to fans of Wilbur Smith and Beverley Harper.

Alex Tremain is a pirate in trouble. The two women in his life - one of them his financial adviser, the other his diesel mechanic - have left him. He's facing a mounting tide of debts and his crew of modern-day buccaneers, a multi-national band of ex-military cut-throats, is getting restless. They don't all share his dream of going legit, but what Alex really wants is to re-open the five-star resort hotel which once belonged to his Portuguese mother and English father on the Island of Dreams, off the coast of Mozambique. A chance raid on a wildlife smuggling ship sets the Chinese triads after him and, to add to his woes, corporate lawyer Jane Humphries lands, literally, in his lap. Another woman is the last thing Captain Tremain needs right now - especially one whose lover is a ruthless shipping magnate backed up by a deadly bunch of contract killers.

Meanwhile Jane finds herself torn between the crooked but charming pirate and her coolly calculating millionaire boss, George Penfold. Both are passionate, and both are dangerous. What Alex really needs is one last big heist - something valuable enough to fulfil his dreams and set him and his men up for life. When the South African government makes a controversial decision to reinstitute the culling of elephants in its national parks, Alex finds the answer to his dilemma - three tonnes of ivory.

©2009 Tony Park (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

well worth the listen

Any additional comments?

Tony Park has got what it takes to keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through to the end. This is the second book I have listened to by this author and look forward to another becoming available soon. My only criticism would be the narrator. Mark Davis was superb in every way but one. Much of the story is set in Southern Africa and many of the names of the people and places are Afrikaans based and are pronounced a certain way. It would have made the story perfect if the narrator pronounced the names correctly.

Why?

Why ruin a wonderful book about Africa with filthy sex remarks and scenes. It would have been a great book with out the filth. For that reason I do not recommend it.

Good Book, well read - worth a listen

If you could sum up Ivory in three words, what would they be?

I expected some similarity with one of the Wilbur Smith Novels, but this one was refreshingly different. a Good book, well read and keeps the listener engaged.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

yes, there was always something 'different' happening.

What does Mark Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the accents Mark Used and the manner in which he did, makes him an outstanding narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the book was great overall.

Outstanding again

This is the third book from Tony Park that I have listened too and all are great from the start to finish. Mark Davis does an outstanding job as the narrator for all the books. The accents are excellent I can't wait for another addition from Tony Park

a pg rated bodice ripper

What did you like best about Ivory? What did you like least?

I kind of enjoyed the general flow of the story, in fact that kept me reading for quite a while after I had been turned off by the plastic cut-out characters in the story. The narrator was excellent.

What was most disappointing about Tony Park’s story?

all the main characters seem drawn from the inventory of romantic fiction of the ages

Which scene was your favorite?

the first scene in the book was a very good hook

Was Ivory worth the listening time?

not for me, I gave up halfway

Any additional comments?

this book might be better appreciated by the ladies

I want more.

Tony Park's characters want you to follow them to other stories. The story line is well researched and the characters believable. You cannont resist the story of the pirate & the crooked ship owner. The twists are excellent & I look forward to yet another African adventure put to press by Tony. Well done.

Pirates, Double Crosses, and Africa

Modern day pirate, Alex Tremain was born in Mozambique in Southern Africa to a British father and Portuguese mother. As a child, Alex played alongside the native children and his parents ran an upscale tourist hotel on an island off Mozambique. Then forced off the island during the civil war, the hotel was ransacked and taken over by the rebels. Alex left and joined the war effort, getting severely wounded. When the war was over, Alex returned to the Island of Dreams in hopes of restoring the hotel and reopening it. But for that, he needed money. So he recruited his military pals, and he along with his comrades formed a crew of pirates . . . some more loyal than others. Then along comes shipping magnate, aka spoiled rich brat, George Penfold, and his flagship container ship, MV Penfold Son. And nothing is as it seems . . . Jane Humphries, corporate lawyer for Penfold, is having an affair with the married owner of the company (yuck . . . all of this could have been left out . . . thus the deduction of a star) . . . for some unknown reason, armed bodyguards have joined the Penfold Son on their voyage . . . and while Alex and his band of pirates are watching a Chinese ship, they witness a mysterious package change hands on the Penfold Son . . . so Alex decides to board the ship . . . where he is met with stiff resistance from the bodyguards/mercenaries . . . before being killed, the captain of the Penfold Son hands Jane a small package telling her to protect it with her life . . . Jane hides it . . . and keeps the secret very well . . . over the length of the story, Jane's allegiance goes back and forth between George and Alex . . . which is understandable . . . she's a lawyer . . . but what lawyer gets entangled with her married boss??? And the book would have been so much better without the sex details . . . the romance between Alex and Jane was much preferred . . . Jane's kidnapping by the pirates, the story of the culling of the elephants, particularly the encounter with the notch-eared matriarch, and the back drop of the African landscape all made for a great tale . . .

1 -D stereotype characters and predictable plot

boring and lacking imagination beyond male, action thriller fantasies. I could not listen beyond chapter 1

Not for the Squeamish

I recently listened to Ivory written by Tony Park and narrated by Mark Davis.

Alex Tremaine is a bit of a gentleman pirate. Him and his crew have set up on an island off the coast of Mozambique and have taken to hijacking ships for a living. They are nice because Tremaine, oddly enough for a pirate, has a conscience. This can't be said for his entire crew.

Things continue along their merry way until they hijack a ship by George Penfold, a wealthy ship magnate. They were looking for diamonds they thought were transferred to the ship by a Chinese ship they had hijacked previously. 

When they didn't find the diamonds they took a girl who, unlucky enough for her, was in the escape boat they were commandeering. Jane, the girl in question, finds herself wooed by Tremaine the pirate. Her heart is torn between the pirate that is escorting her to South Africa and the married ship magnate who has implied he will leave his wife for her.

Narration: Mark Davis does a workaday job of narration here. His diction is clear, however, his performance leaves something wanting. 

Conclusion: As the title implies, ivory does come into this eventually. There is a chance to steal a bunch of Ivory from a government approved elephant killing spree. There is a moral discussion had by the characters about this, however, it leaves one scratching their heads about their moral compass. 

This tale, despite what's written on the jacket, is primarily about Jane and the two high powered men that are fighting over her. Each is dangerous, both physically and romantically, and this book reflects that. 

This steamy adventure novel is not for the squeamish. Some scenes or concepts bandied about in these pages will make the reader uncomfortable. If you are willing to overlook the flaws in these, all too human, characters you might enjoy the steamy romance in this book.

True to gossip

I have heard people talk about illegal trade that benefits the government. This story enlightened that concept. Tony Park brings Africa back to the migrants that felt compelled to leave the continent.

Lovable Rogues, Elephants and Diamonds?

From the start to the thrilling conclusion, this book had me in suspence all the way. It has more twists and turns than a World Rallye course with just as much speed and excitment.
You get the lot here; adventure, passion, violence and compassion in abundance.
A truly well written, compelling book I couldn't stop listening to.

Enjoyed...!

Albeit a bit far fetched James Bondish style, a good edge of your seat read....

Terrible voice, frightful reading

What a weird, stilted and annoying and finally unbearable way of reading: pronouncing the word "a" not as a short a (=uh) but always as the letter a. How unprofessional to run the reading straight over gaps in content (i.e. in the same chapter, the author switches subject completely) without an instant's pause, making comprehension of the story very tricky. And frankly the subject matter, when combined with that awful stilted hat reading, was not good enough to make me care what happened in the rest of the story. I stopped after the first part. You will understand that I do not recommend it!