Eclipse
by Richard North Patterson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard North PattersonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-06
ISBN: 0805087729
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Book Reviews of Eclipse
Book Review: Patterson does not pull any punches and delivers a taut and suspenseful novel that handles the inevitable outcome realistically
Summary: 5 Stars
Throughout his successful career as an author --- with 11 consecutive novels making the New York Times bestseller list --- Richard North Patterson has continuously tackled controversial subjects, such as abortion, gun lobbying, capital punishment and race and religion in politics. With his latest effort, ECLIPSE, he has set his sights on both the world's current demand for oil as well as telling the story of an African freedom fighter wrongly imprisoned by the corrupt government of fictional Luandia, West Africa.
Bobby Okari is a human rights leader --- much in the tradition of Nelson Mandela --- who is vocally active in his protest of the despoliation of his people's lands by American oil companies and the military regime that plunders these natural resources with complete disregard for the needs of their people. As a result of his public protests, Bobby is imprisoned and must stand trial for a crime he claims not to have committed: the murder of three PetroGlobal Oil Company employees, an American company operating in Luandia. Bobby's only defense is American attorney Damon Pierce, a former classmate of his wife Marissa, who Damon openly still harbors feelings for. As Damon prepares for trial --- and fights to stay alive --- he gets a crash course in the geopolitics of oil and, in particular, how local corruption and violence ripples through the global oil market.
The murders in question occur during an eclipse on Asari Day --- a celebratory day for the Asari people, who Bobby and his family come from. During a protest rally that Bobby leads, a massacre occurs whereby most of the village --- including Bobby's own father --- are slaughtered by the local military. Bobby is arrested for the deaths of the PetroGlobal employees, and the massacre is labeled as a justified response to these murders and to quell the dangerous uprising Bobby is responsible for during the eclipse. An email from Marissa to Damon advises him of these proceedings and urges his help. Against the better judgment of his own law firm, Damon takes the case and leaves California for a flight to dangerous and volatile Luandia.
Damon has his eyes opened quickly as he is indoctrinated by the local U.S. Embassy and some of Bobby's supporters into the inner workings of the Luandian government, its tyrannical leader, General Savior Karama, and the local oil industry. Damon finds that in the post-9/11 world, the voracity for oil has focused global attention on the Luanadian Delta. With no programs to wean countries like the U.S. off the need for foreign oil, and with a need to avoid terrorist-ridden Middle East countries like nuclear-empowered Iran, the Luandian Delta offers an easy substitute to sate the global thirst for oil. As a result of these facts, Damon realizes that there is a web of countries, companies and public interests that do not need anything to jeopardize PetroGlobal's work in Luandia. Therefore, Bobby is likely to be a sacrificial lamb for all of these interests.
Damon begins by attacking PetroGlobal directly in an effort to show their complicity and assistance in the massacre on Asari Day. Once he has established these grounds, the next hurdle is to face a three-judge tribunal in Luandia to fight for Bobby's release. The Luandian government, on the other hand, seeks swift justice of their own and wants to hang Bobby as soon as possible since he is seen as a secessionist threat. Damon is facing a stacked deck, and the novel continues to introduce more and more roadblocks for him in his defense of Bobby. Additionally, Damon must continue to battle his own feelings for Marissa and the realization that he came to Luandia for her and not necessarily out of an obligation to defend her husband's rights.
At times, ECLIPSE weighs you down with so many plot elements and twists, along with the foreboding sense of impending doom, that it is tough to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully, Patterson does not pull any punches and delivers a taut and suspenseful novel that handles the inevitable outcome realistically. In his acknowledgements, the author reveals that the impetus for the book came from the real-life case of courageous environmental and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who had been hung by the corrupt General Sani Abacha 15 years ago in Nigeria. Reading this eye-opening afterword definitely gives a greater respect for the tough subject matter Patterson has gracefully handled in ECLIPSE.
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
Summary of Eclipse
The spellbinding story of an American lawyer who takes on a nearly impossible case?the defense of an African freedom fighter against his corrupt government?s charge of murder
Damon Pierce?s life has just reached a defining moment: a gifted California lawyer, he?s being divorced by his wife and his work often seems soulless. Then he receives a frantic e-mail from Marissa Brand Okari?a woman he loved years ago?and decides to risk everything to respond to her plea for help.
Marissa?s husband, Bobby Okari, is the charismatic leader of a freedom movement in the volatile west African nation of Luandia, which is being torn apart by the world?s craving for its vast supply of oil. Bobby?s outspoken opposition to the exploitation of his homeland by PetroGlobal?a giant American oil company with close ties to Luandia?s brutal government?has enraged General Savior Karama, the country?s autocratic ruler. After Bobby leads a protest rally during a full eclipse of the sun, everyone in his home village is massacred by government troops. And now Bobby has been arrested and charged with the murder of three PetroGlobal workers. Still drawn to Marissa, Pierce agrees to defend Bobby, hoping to save both Bobby and Marissa from almost certain death. But the lethal politics of Luandia may cost Pierce his life instead.
Culminating in a dramatic show trial and a desperate race against time, Eclipse combines a thrilling narrative with a vivid look at the human cost of the global lust for oil. Here is Richard North Patterson at his compelling best, confirming his place as our most provocative author of popular fiction.
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