Reviews for Ayesha the Return of She

The average rating for Ayesha the Return of She based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-05-14 00:00:00 Matthew Smith "Here was one of the last places on earth where the challenge was the greatest of all'survival." Both The Kufra Run and The Last Place God Made very much had a pulp feel to them, as though Higgins had been hold-up somewhere with nothing to do but devour copies of Spicy Adventure Magazine from the 1930s and watch robust adventure serials from the same era. East of Desolation, published in 1968, continues in that vein and is right up there with the best stuff he's ever done. He's doing a certain thing here, elevating the old adventure pulp style, and he's done it to near perfection. He even gives the reader a wink to what he's doing at one point: "He pushed off and I watched him go, gliding effortlessly across the snow, a clever dangerous animal. I suppose I should have experienced some kind of fear as I went after him, but I didn't. Instead I was filled with a strange kind of joy and my hands shook excitedly. It was like one of those Saturday serials I'd seen as a kid and I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the next installment." The difference in East of Desolation is that it's not a serial, but a fun and robust male adventure we get from beginning to its fabulous and very exciting end. Set in rugged but cold and beautiful Greenland, the tale is rife with romanticized stereotypes so well done we can almost picture certain stars of yesteryear playing the various roles. Charter pilot Joe Martin is our main man, the voice and hero of this, but no tale this vigorous would be complete without a larger than life character, and we certainly have that in war hero and legendary actor Jack Desforge. Down on his luck but living life to its Hemingway fullest, he's the kind that things just happen around: "There was a box of cartridges in the map compartment and I loaded the magazine with infinite care. After all, there's nothing like being prepared for all eventualities and the girl was certainly right about one thing. Around Jack Desforge anything might happen and usually did." Because no tale such as this would be complete without planes and ariel derring-do, Joe Martin is pilot of the Otter. But Joe's acquaintance Arnie is also a pilot: "He roared across the harbor no more than twenty feet above the water and then his engine note deepened and he started to climb at just the right moment, banking into the sun, all for my benefit of course, nice and fast and showy and one of these days he was going to kill himself doing it." No tale such as this would be complete without some lovely but very different women, and we get three of them, who all play strong parts in this old-style, elevated pulp adventure. There are hunts and planes and emeralds and double crosses, and near the end, a startling twist stretching credulity, but in a story as entertaining as this one, only a fool or someone full of literary pretension (while secretly devouring this) would object. If I gave details, the plot would seem filled with adventure pulp clichés, but as you read you just get lost in the fun, and don't care. Higgins even manages to wax philosophic on occasion in the narrative, and when he does, he's usually spot-on, as in this juicy observation: "It's unfortunate, but primitive races seem to acquire all the vices of our civilization," I said, "never its virtues." ' Joe This is a robust read for 2/3 of the book, then it becomes a runaway train, and we're turning pages quickly to see who gets/doesn't get those emeralds, who does/doesn't survive doing it, and who gets/doesn't get their girl. It ends like all great adventure tales of this type, but who does what I'll have to leave for the reader to discover. Maybe four solid stars till we get that twist, then Higgins kicks it up a notch, and we can't put it down. This is romantic adventure escapism, male-style, and it's sublime. A must-read if you're a fan of the author, those old-style pulp adventures, or both. Great fun!

Review # 2 was written on 2009-11-13 00:00:00 Chris Brown Not all is as it seems in this arctic thriller. Pilot Joe Martin flies people to and fro over the vast wilderness of Greenland, anxious to make ends meet and possibly amass some savings along the way. He's settled in comfortably with the locals, and is satisfied with his life. When a group appears who seem to have a sinister air about them, Martin tries to turn away the fare, but it becomes a matter of government investigation and he's pressed into service. His way of life is threatened by this new group, but it seems Martin is a victim of circumstance... This is a suspenseful tale that uses the beautiful backdrop of Greenland as contrast against the murky intentions of its visitors.