Tuesday 19 November 2013

Review of The Minke Connection by Murray Kibblewhite


Someone is killing protected sperm whales.

John Daroux is a New Age intellectual, martial arts exponent and Reki master, a Renaissance man with an interest in all things Japanese.  Tasked by Greenpeace to investigate the reports, he is sent to Japan along with Carrie Ardley, a whale researcher dedicated to ending the whaling industry.  They join a Greenpeace ship to hunt down the factory ship and gain proof they are hunting protected whales.  Boarding the factory ship in mid ocean, John finds irrefutable evidence, almost loses his life and becomes Carrie’s lover. While in Tokyo they are followed by the dreaded Yakusa, evade being poisoned, and survive being frozen alive.

Mark Stafford is the chief of Greenpeace, competent and urbane.  He travels to Tokyo with his beautiful associate, Petra van de Roer, to find the reason why the giant trading company, Mosaka Corporation, is killing the protected Sperm whales. While unravelling the mystery he is confronted by the cut called the League of Blood and learns the more sinister reason behind the killings. 

Will the persistent efforts of the environmental protectors Greenpeace be enough to save the whales?

The Minke Connection is a thriller with plenty of action and romance and a spellbinding saga. While not strong on characterisation there is development of individual personalities. The main characters experience a variety of challenging situations which makes for exciting reading. The author has incorporated interesting and carefully researched details about whales, dolphins and the Japanese culture and history to make the story both credible and compelling.  It incorporates business versus environmentalism, big organizations versus small and expectation versus experience.   I’m eagerly looking forward to finding out what happens next.

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