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Rogue Eagle
Not Kramer and his Bantu assistant this time, nor a crime story per se, but a larger action of corrosive hostilities extending the duration of apartheid back to the Boers and currently forward to a Brotherhood up in the mountains, a residue of bitter enders in the small South African country of Lesotho.
- GenresFiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
James McClure
42 books21 followersJames Howe McClure was a British author and journalist best known for his Kramer and Zondi mysteries set in South Africa.
James McClure was born and raised in South Africa and educated in Pietermaritzburg, Natal at Scottsville School (1947–51), Cowan House (1952–54), and Maritzburg College (1955–58). He worked first as a commercial photographer with Tom Sharpe, who later wrote a series of celebrated comic novels, and then as a teacher of English and art at Cowan House in 1959-63, before becoming a crime reporter and photographer for the Natal Witness in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg.
His journalistic career saw him headhunted first by the Natal Mercury and then by the Natal Daily News. After the birth of his first son, he moved to Britain with his family in 1965, where he joined the Scottish Daily Mail as a sub-editor. From there, he moved to the Oxford Mail and then to The Oxford Times.
His first crime novel, The Steam Pig, won the CWA Gold Dagger in 1971. He resigned as deputy editor in 1974 to write full time. He added to his series of police procedurals based on his experiences in South Africa, featuring the detective partnership of Afrikaner Lieutenant Tromp Kramer and Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi.
McClure also wrote a spy novel set in Southern Africa - Rogue Eagle - which won the 1976 CWA Silver Dagger, a number of short stories, and two large non-fiction works that won wide acclaim: Spike Island: Portrait of a Police Division (Liverpool) and Copworld: Inside an American Police Force (San Diego).
After publishing 14 books, he returned to the bottom rung of "The Oxford Times" in 1986, as his police books had made him aware of how much he had missed working with others - his intention being to write in his spare time. What proved his most popular Kramer and Zondi novel then followed, The Song Dog, but journalism soon became all consuming. He became editor in 1994 and three years later The Oxford Times won the Weekly Newspaper of the Year award, beating all comers from across the United Kingdom.
He was promoted to editor of the Oxford Mail in 2000, and spent the next three years on a variety of objectives to enhance the quality and revenue of the county's daily paper. That done, he decided it was time to again step down, and retired to return to writing. He was working on a novel set in Oxford and had just started his own blog when he came down with a respiratory illness and died on 17 June 2006. He lived in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
James McClure was born and raised in South Africa and educated in Pietermaritzburg, Natal at Scottsville School (1947–51), Cowan House (1952–54), and Maritzburg College (1955–58). He worked first as a commercial photographer with Tom Sharpe, who later wrote a series of celebrated comic novels, and then as a teacher of English and art at Cowan House in 1959-63, before becoming a crime reporter and photographer for the Natal Witness in his hometown of Pietermaritzburg.
His journalistic career saw him headhunted first by the Natal Mercury and then by the Natal Daily News. After the birth of his first son, he moved to Britain with his family in 1965, where he joined the Scottish Daily Mail as a sub-editor. From there, he moved to the Oxford Mail and then to The Oxford Times.
His first crime novel, The Steam Pig, won the CWA Gold Dagger in 1971. He resigned as deputy editor in 1974 to write full time. He added to his series of police procedurals based on his experiences in South Africa, featuring the detective partnership of Afrikaner Lieutenant Tromp Kramer and Bantu Detective Sergeant Mickey Zondi.
McClure also wrote a spy novel set in Southern Africa - Rogue Eagle - which won the 1976 CWA Silver Dagger, a number of short stories, and two large non-fiction works that won wide acclaim: Spike Island: Portrait of a Police Division (Liverpool) and Copworld: Inside an American Police Force (San Diego).
After publishing 14 books, he returned to the bottom rung of "The Oxford Times" in 1986, as his police books had made him aware of how much he had missed working with others - his intention being to write in his spare time. What proved his most popular Kramer and Zondi novel then followed, The Song Dog, but journalism soon became all consuming. He became editor in 1994 and three years later The Oxford Times won the Weekly Newspaper of the Year award, beating all comers from across the United Kingdom.
He was promoted to editor of the Oxford Mail in 2000, and spent the next three years on a variety of objectives to enhance the quality and revenue of the county's daily paper. That done, he decided it was time to again step down, and retired to return to writing. He was working on a novel set in Oxford and had just started his own blog when he came down with a respiratory illness and died on 17 June 2006. He lived in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 4, 2020
AUTHOR McClure, James
TITLE Rogue Eagle
DATE READ 01/30/20
RATING 4/B
FIRST SENTENCE Wolraad Steyn, his palms sweating, clasped and unclasped the hand that would plunge the dagger.
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/1976/Avon/220 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2020 Reading Goal 18/120; Random Travel to 9 Countries 2/9 Kuwait, Lesotho (Columbia, Guatemala, Japan, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Kiribati, Eritrea) Around the World in 80 Countries 2019-2020 30/80 for 2019; 33/80(Spain, Kuwait, Lesotho)
GROUP READ
TIME/PLACE 1970's/Lesotho
CHARACTERS Dirk and Wolraad Steyn -- brothers ; Finbar Buchanan -- Scottsman, journalist, spy; Nancy Kitson CIA spy
COMMENTS Set in the 70's in Lesotho -- political unrest, apartheid, secret agents…this one was on the TBR for quite awhile.
TITLE Rogue Eagle
DATE READ 01/30/20
RATING 4/B
FIRST SENTENCE Wolraad Steyn, his palms sweating, clasped and unclasped the hand that would plunge the dagger.
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/1976/Avon/220 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2020 Reading Goal 18/120; Random Travel to 9 Countries 2/9 Kuwait, Lesotho (Columbia, Guatemala, Japan, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Kiribati, Eritrea) Around the World in 80 Countries 2019-2020 30/80 for 2019; 33/80(Spain, Kuwait, Lesotho)
GROUP READ
TIME/PLACE 1970's/Lesotho
CHARACTERS Dirk and Wolraad Steyn -- brothers ; Finbar Buchanan -- Scottsman, journalist, spy; Nancy Kitson CIA spy
COMMENTS Set in the 70's in Lesotho -- political unrest, apartheid, secret agents…this one was on the TBR for quite awhile.
November 26, 2020
It was ok but kind of a slow slog of a read. You never really thought the bad guys would actually get anything done since they seemed so incompetent. Also since I know nothing about South African history, I kept getting lost on what was actually happening. Though the plot itself is easy to understand it really never made much sense.
Cant really recommend, it was an ok read but wont be knocking myself out looking for more from McClure.
Cant really recommend, it was an ok read but wont be knocking myself out looking for more from McClure.
October 25, 2012
This thriller won the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger in 1976, so it's only taken me 35+years to get around to reading it. I don't know how many times I went to Wikipedia to look up South African names and places. Still a great thriller after all these years, but you might want to brush up on SA history.
Want to Read
October 12, 2011Out of the book box from Moem.
Want to Read
March 23, 2019Synopsis: in the mountains of Lesotho a secret organisation plots a terrorist outrage that could throw South Africa into political turmoil.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews