Whirlwind

James Clavell

Sep 2018 · Blackstone Publishing

About this ebook

Tehran, Iran 1979: Simmering religious tensions finally explode, and the Iranian people rise up against the Shah. The country, once secular, is now thrown back into an orthodoxy that threatens to tear it apart. The United States and Russia go on high alert, with warships heading to the Middle East. The region becomes a powder keg, waiting to explode. Caught up in the revolution are a British helicopter company and its pilots. The oil fields of Iran need helicopters to ferry workers and administrators, and when the main US aviation company pulls out of Iran fearing what might come next, S-G Helicopters steps in to fill the void. Soon they realize that they, too, must leave or risk losing all their machines to whomever takes control of the country. The company risks bankruptcy if that happens—which would ruin Andrew Gallavan and reveal that the company is actually owned by a secret Hong Kong–based consortium: Noble House, controlled by the Struan family. Caught in between is his son, Scot, a pilot in Iran who must help save his father’s company, but also the other pilots and their families. In a risky move, the pilots concoct a plan to get their choppers out of Iran. But will they be able to escape a country crumbling around them before it’s too late?

A rich panoply of characters brings to life the events of forty years ago, events that even now have ramifications throughout the Middle East and beyond. Fast-paced and full of action and intrigue, Whirlwind is an intricately plotted and detailed tale of war, love, and the ingenuity of the human spirit, told by James Clavell, the unparalleled master of historical fiction.

Ratings and reviews

Loved the Struan's Easter Eggs spread throughout the story, linking the book's current protagonists with the legacy of the Hong Kong and Japan legacy. That said, other than wanting Gavallan to extricate himself and S-G out the problems they found themselves in, I mostly just wanted to fast forward to a Clavell book that was never written, where Gavallan is reunited with Dunross in Hong Kong, where we find out once and for all just what a villain Linbar was. Where I found the Taoism and Buddhism ingrained in the Chinese characters of Clavell's other books enchanting, the whole Shite fundamentalism of the Persian character in Whilewind seemed rigid, preventing the author from allowing his Iranian characters from breaking the mold and making genuine heroic or selfish decisions that would move the plot along into unexpected directions of tragedy and success.

About the author

James Clavell (1921–1994) was a novelist, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. He is best known for his epic Asian Saga novels, which launched with the 1962 bestseller King Rat, and their televised adaptations. He also wrote screenplays for such films as The Great Escape and The Fly, and was a writer, director, and producer on To Sir, with Love. His books Shōgun, Noble House, Tai-Pan, and Whirlwind were #1 New York Times bestsellers.