The Burma Legacy

Sam Packer #3

by Geoffrey Archer

Sam Packer, hero of Firehawk and The Lucifer Network, has a new assignment that will combine all his diplomatic and survival skills. An aging, wealthy Japanese businessman, Tetsuo Kamata, wants to rescue an ailing British car company, but the moment the announcement is made, death threats are made against Kamata by a former prisoner-of -war, Peregrine Harrison, who was tortured on the infamous Burma Railway. For the last five decades, Harrison has been the leader of a British-based cult. Packer can't believe that at the age of 77 Harrison has the strength or will to exact revenge, but he reckons without Harrison's cult adherents, one of whom is a ruthless ex-SAS operative now involved in drug smuggling in the Burma triangle. Packer learns that Kamata will be hit while visiting a new factory site in Burma and is flown out under cover to prevent a tragedy. Kamata is kidnapped and Packer is soon in the jungle, both hunter and hunted as he searches for the missing man and is tracked by his enemies. The Burma Legacy combines Geoffrey Archer's immaculate research with heart stopping action.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Crime

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Geoffrey Archer is a fiction writer from London. He specialises in military adventures and spy thrillers and created the character Sam Packer.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Have to be honest I started reading Geoffrey because I thought I was picking up a Jeffrey. However Geoffrey has not disappointed at all.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

No wonder I wasn’t wild about this book, as I am about every other novel written by JEFFREY Archer. The author of this detective-adventure story was GEOFFREY Archer.

I learned quite a lot about Burma’s WW2 history and its present-day continuation as Myanmar.

[Alastair Carthew]

Living in Thailand and having visited Cambodia many times for work, I was intrigued by the plot of a man seeking revenge for maltreatment by a Japanese soldier during World War II. I think the linking of killing the soldier to the jobs of hundreds of factory workers at a car plant in England is a bit of a stretch, but, hey, every book needs to stretch the imagination to its limits. The book is well researched on aspects of Asia, particularly Cambodia. The characters are sympathetically drawn.

[John Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very average.

[Joe Weir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average. Potentially a great plot, just not filled out with the right/enough detail

[Sherri Ashton · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok, first book i read of his

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced thriller, read in 2 days.

[Neville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packer is tasked to stop an ex British POW (Peregrine Harrison) from killing his Japanese torturer (Tetsuo Kamata) who did everything he could to Harrison to gain information about the British defense force in Burma during WWII.
At first, Packer is undercover with an attractive Australian undercover detective trying to track down a rouge ex SAS solider who now earns more money from drug sales, but Packer is called back to England to focus on another "unrelated" case. In his travels, he moves back to Burma and Thailand to try and stop the ex-POW from killing the Japanese prison guard, as his death will have an impact on the British economy.
The story takes you into the danger of travelling through Burma (now Myanmar) and the drug trade as well as the dangers of being a European in this country.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an average thriller which had some good and bad features. The scenes set in Southeast Asia rang true to me, particularly when describing the very basic living conditions of the poorer residents. The attraction between the English soldier and the Australian policewoman was not convincing to me. The plot revolved around the British government trying to stop an elderly ex-POW's revenge for economic reasons was interesting and just barely possible. Although there are a few action scenes, I found that my reading experience dragged - I would rather feel that I can't put a book down (certainly not the case with this one!)

[S.narasimha Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Burma legacy

The story starts Sam Packer, of British Intelligence and Inspector Midge Adams a narcotics officer with the Australian Federal Police chasing a drug peddler Jimmy squires . After they encounter Jimmy squires in Thailand and escapes. Sam Parker was called back to London and gives him a different assignment which makes him to go to Burma chasing a war veteran. The story is gripping. An interesting read. Geoffrey Archer is a master story teller.

[Warren C.Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hi jinks, Burma veterans, ex SAS drug runner, among other items!

Enjoyable action yarn, involving disparate, interesting characters, drug smuggling, a dis-enchanted spy, with conflicted love life, an embittered Aussie drugs cop, and twisted WW2 ex-POW, a bit sub Bond, but, enjoyable!

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow Sam Packer and the Australian cop just didn’t ring true. The idea of an ex POW out for revenge and a government out to stop him to save a car factory was intriguing but just didn’t quite make the grade for me.

[Jim Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from a Master.

I recommend this and all Geoffrey Archer's books to those who enjoy a well written and constructed story. Hard to put down once started.

[William Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with good characters. Keeps your tied to your seat reading through to the end. Enjoy it.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

the cruel things that are done during war time, some times they never leave us..

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ex POW of the Japanese has a chance to avenge himself on his erstwhile interrogator. The hero, Tom Packer has to try to stop him to protect the jobs of hundreds of UK car workers. It takes over half the book to get the protagonist to Burma finally reaching Yangon on page 269, which is really too longin a book with Burma in the title.

[Karunakaran N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story spun after fifty five years of WWII, a Japanese business man erstwhile interrogator or Japanese POW camp reconciles his past action to open up factories in UK... finds one of his victims buried with vengeance against him... Twists in the storyline leads to Burma where the real cause of vengeance is revealed. Its a wonderful Sam Packer page turner...

[Vernon Chaplin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty mediocre thriller--I finally got into it a little in the last 100 pages, and it wasn't painful reading, but there's better stuff on the bestseller racks than this.