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St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
Army News, Navy News & RAAF News
By Tony Park. Pan Macmillan. 416pp. $30
Reviewer: Capt Jason Logue
One of the most common observations made during operational deployments is an intent to return when things "settle down".
For most of us it remains but a dream and if the lead character's experiences in Maj Tony Park's first novel are any indication of what could occur, this is probably a good thing.
Mike Williams, a former RAE officer who led a de-mining program in Mozambique, broke free from the spotty uniform following a soul-destroying run-in with ivory poachers that left his soon-to-be wife executed, his fellow de-mining advisor scattered across a wide area and one of Africa's last truly great elephants as a hearty meal for the local scavengers.
Having been touched by Africa 's beauty, he now calls it home and makes his living by taking tourists on the trip of a lifetime.
African politics and inefficiency let the crime go unpunished when it occurred but now, more than a year later, Mike is offered the chance to avenge the callous murders at the cost of putting an entire load of tourists in the firing line.
Far Horizon offers a great mix of intrigue, revenge and education about Africa . With Maj Park 's knowledge of Africa and a genuine understanding of the Aussie military persona, he looks set to rival Wilbur Smith in the development of a great African dynasty.
(This review was syndicated in Army News, Navy News and RAAF news, the official service newspapers of the Australian Defence Force)
WHO magazine
March 29, 2004
By Tony Park
Macmillan, $30
Australian Army major Mike Williams is working with a United Nations de-mining program in Mozambique when a Russian Mafia-connected big-game poacher starts shooting at him. His return fire strikes the poacher in the leg, setting off a sequence of events that leads to the major's girlfriend, a policeman, some nuns and several bystanders being slaughtered. Williams resigns from the army and becomes a tour guide. A year later, while ferrying a motley collection of tourists across Africa , he encounters the same poacher again, and more bloodshed ensues. Meanwhile, several of the more comely female tourists have climbed into his sleeping bag or joined him in the showers at various camping grounds. All of this makes for an enthralling page-turner from a first-time novelist who has served in the Army Reserve and clearly has an extensive knowledge of Africa . - Jamie Grant
(WHO magazine rates books from 'A' to 'F'- Far Horizon got an 'A')
The Weekend Australian
Saturday, 20 March 2004, Page B12
In and Out of Africa
By Jodie Minus
Jodie Minus talks with an Australian candidate for Wilbur Smith's shoes
By Tony Park, Pan Macmillan, 415pp, $30
AS with most addictions, Tony Park's particular drug is starting to take over his life.
"It takes up our money, it takes up our time and we have even had to adjust our careers to compensate for it,'' he admits. Fortunately, that drug - Africa - holds no real threat to his and his wife's health. In fact, 39-year-old Park is cashing in on it.
His first novel, Far Horizon, set in the wilds of southern Africa , is out this month with his publishers already touting him as the new Wilbur Smith, a comparison that undoubtedly pleases him. `"I would be flattered to be compared with someone who can make a living writing novels and still be churning them out 40 years after he started,'' Park says. `"I can't imagine being that happy.''
Park and his wife Nicola first visited Africa nine years ago and were immediately hooked. Both work as PR consultants in Sydney and their cleverly rejigged work schedules mean they can spend three to four months in Africa every year. "They are good countries to travel in, fascinating countries and there is an endless amount of opportunities and possibilities to write about there,'' he says.
"The countryside is very similar to Australia but then all of a sudden an elephant pops out of the bush.''
Travelling around southern Africa in their noisy, old Land Rover (they keep a car in Zimbabwe but don't own one in Australia ) the couple have encountered more than just elephants. Park's action adventure page-turner, set in contemporary Africa , follows ex-Australian army officer Mike Williams as he battles poachers, disables mines and confronts the AIDS epidemic.
"AIDS is inescapable, everyday, everywhere you look and everywhere you travel. We've lost friends because of it,'' says Park. "You drive along and you see roadside coffin sellers and tombstone carvers.
"In Harare and Zimbabwe it is hard to get around at the moment, as there aren't too many street signs: they have been stolen and melted down to make coffin handles. It would be very hard to write a book set in Africa and not mention AIDS because it is part of life there and has changed the social structure.''
It's all a long way from Campbelltown, on the southwestern outskirts of Sydney , where Park attended Catholic school and swam in the Georges River . As a young boy he loved reading and writing and went on to do a cadetship with suburban newspaper The Glebe and later wrote for the St George Sutherland Leader and the Leader Hurstville.
Not content to wile away his hours behind a desk, he joined the Army Reserve in 1982 and on weekends he was working as an aerial dispatcher. In 1988 he began a short career in politics, as press secretary for the then NSW premier, Nick Greiner. Working for the premier's office quickly taught him how to deal with the media but it was also a very high-pressured environment and after four years he left to start his own consultancy business. Today, over a schooner of VB at a Sydney hotel, the media savvy and articulate Park is careful when it comes to questions about his personal opinions, at times issuing a friendly "no comment''. With his long, dark eyelashes and army-issue buzz-cut that reveals monkey-ish ears, he has an intangible childlike quality.
Undeterred by a previously rejected manuscript - an action adventure set in the Northern Territory - he began writing Far Horizon while visiting Africa in 2000. Research is mostly "learning and experience by immersion'' (on his last trip he clocked up 15,000km), so it was only natural for him to set the book in Africa . "It's the type of book I would read - like Beverley Harper and Wilbur Smith - because that's the genre that I'm interested in and the location as well.''
Park's consultancy business incorporates work as an Army Reserve public relations officer and that's what took him to Afghanistan for six months in 2002. But before he left he sent the manuscript of Far Horizon to a publisher - `"my mum is friends with the mum of a publicist at Pan Macmillan''. Four months later, while in Bagram, he received an acceptance letter. "It was fantastic news but I couldn't really celebrate it,'' he says. `"I was at the main coalition base in Afghanistan at the time and it was dry - there was no alcohol. It wasn't the sort of place to hold a party, so I had a Pepsi and that was about it.''
Now Park is finishing his second novel, another action adventure written on a laptop in the African bush. "I have got to the stage where I am enjoying my life,'' he says. "The fact that my wife and I can travel and still work and support ourselves and that I have a book coming out - I don't really see how things can get much better.''
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Spectrum Section
May 1, 2004
By Tony Park
Macmillan, 416pp, $30 (pb)
This book knows about things that other writers might have to labour to explain. Mike Williams, a major in the Australian Army , has been working as part of a UN team in Mozambique near the South African border, removing landmines. His team encounters big-game poachers, the type of men who will kill any human who tries to stop them killing animals. These are the baddies. They have names like Orlov, Klaus and Hess. The love of Williams's life, a Portuguese doctor called Isabella, soon falls prey to them. Williams then gets a job as a tour guide taking backpackers through nature reserves, but, of course, the time will come for him to attend to unfinished business. This novel uses many of the standard devices of action-thriller writing. But underneath that is a deep knowledge of, and concern for, the fragile natural and human environments of south-east Africa that lift it onto another plane.
- Michael McGirr
Online Book Review from Aussie Reviews
Reviewed by Sally Murphy
Action and adventure in Africa.
Ex-Australian Army Officer Mike Williams has a dream job as a travel guide in Africa . But when he hears that Captain Theron of the South African police wants to speak to him urgently, he knows instantly what it's about.
Twelve months ago, Mike's world was destroyed by a chance encounter with illegal hunters which left his girlfriend murdered and his head filled with unshakeable nightmares. Now he must revisit those memories and work alongside the police to catch the hunters.
With a busload of tourists to look after, Mike must choose between his need for revenge and his duty towards their safety. But, as the hunters and the travellers continue ther parallel journey across the continent, the choice may no longer be Mike's to make.
Far Horizon is a gripping adventure set against the mysterious and beautiful African landscape. With the hard-hitting revenge plot unfolding entwined with a backpacker's tour, it is likely to appeal to those who have enjoyed such travel, as well as all who enjoy gripping action.
http://www.aussiereviews.com/article1532.html
The West Australian
Weekend extra
13 March 2004
Safari thriller
PERHAPS it's the fact that there are a lot of expatriate South Africans and Zimbabweans living in Australia that rip-roaring yarns set in the spectacular wilds of the African continent - in the tradition of Wilbur Smith - find such a big audience.
The late Beverley Harper was highly successful in the genre here, and Tony Park looks set to follow in her footsteps. His debut offering is Far Horizon (Pan Macmillan). Central character Mike Williams is a man "driven by an emotion stronger than love, lust or fear. Revenge."
Williams is a former Australian Army officer who becomes an overland tourist guide in South Africa . He is a haunted man. A bloody run-in with ruthless ivory poachers in Mozambique has destroyed his world.
When the authorities inform him that they have picked up the killers' trail, Williams is torn between seeking revenge by helping the police, and keeping his charges safe. As the publishers tout it: "The murderous hunters and the innocent travellers are on a parallel journey. Eventually their paths will cross." Read on.
St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
March 11, 2004
African addict's pen hits paper with a passion
Most people like to take a good book on holiday; Tony Park wrote his own while touring Africa.
The former Leader journalist sent his manuscript, Far Horizon, to publisher Pan Macmillan Australia and they decided to publish it - an almost unheard of feat for an unsolicited manuscript.
The novel was launched during a function at Victoria Barracks officers' mess yesterday.
Far Horizon is the story of a former Australian army officer working as a tour guide in Africa .
While leading a group of young travellers through the African bush he crosses paths with poachers. A shoot-out erupts and he has to battle to save the lives of the young tourists.
"I decided to write a novel rather than read as a way of relaxing. I wanted to do it for fun. I didn't expect it to get published," he said.
Mr Park grew up in Campbelltown, attending St Gregory's College.
He has been in the Army Reserve for 22 years and worked at the Leader in the late 1980s.
For the past eight years he has worked as public relations, including Army PR.
He was sent to Afghanistan in 2002 to act as public relations officer for the Australian Task Force.
A trip to Africa with his wife Nicola in 1995 gave him an enduring passion for the continent.
" Africa is an addiction," he said, arching an eyebrow quizically.
"In many ways it is similar to Australia , but it has an edge to it that we don't have here," he said.
Mr and Mrs Park work eight months a year in Sydney and spend the rest of their time in Africa .
"We lead a very basic life in Sydney and save our money to travel. We don't even have a car here, but we keep a four-wheel drive in Zimbabwe ," Mr Park said.
Pan Macmillan has high hopes for Far Horizon, printing 10,000 copies for the initial print run and a second print run ordered. The rights have been sold in Holland .
He is now working on his second novel.
Since finishing Far Horizon life has mirrored his novel.
"After I'd written the book I heard of a tour guide who was leading a walking tour in the bush and got involved in a shooting incident with poachers," he said.
Now his life is mirroring his dream.
"I am getting the chance to live the life I've always wanted to live," he said.
