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Ghost of Africa
Bret Lee, a professor and sometimes-citizen-spy, is on a secret contract mission to capture or kill an African terrorist leader, Jacob Kunga, along with his rag-tag army. According to intelligence sources, Kunga is seeking to acquire surface-to-air missiles to shoot down airliners overflying central Africa, and is on the lookout for a willing arms source. Contriving to attract Kunga’s attention, Bret play-acts as a rich playboy arms dealer, gambling in Monte Carlo, Macao and South Africa casinos, hoping to “be found” by Kunga and his associates. Bret’s wife, Chu-lin, plays the logistics and social media role for the gambit back in the states, while Zhu, her brother, joins the field mission as well, acting as Bret’s bodyguard. Bret and Zhu are eventually escorted to Kunga’s jungle hideout in the Central African Republic for a missile demonstration. The end may be near for Kunga if Seal Team 7 and the Green Berets have their way.
260 pages, Paperback
Published July 4, 2019
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Van Soye
9 books11 followers A retiree from an engineering, sales and marketing career, Chuck now relaxes in the culture-rich, laid-back resort city of Key West, FL, where as an officer of the Key West Writers Guild, he actively fellowships with several dozen other published writers on a week-to-week basis.
Ghost of Africa’s heroic protagonist, Bret Lee, also comes alive in two of Chuck’s other fictional thrillers, American for Sale, (2016) and Spy Mates, (2013). His followers also enjoy his fiction in the humorous urban fantasy, Young Again…and Again…and Again, (2014). These retirement-era books, all offered on Amazon, culminate years of professional work immersed in nonfiction as a McGraw-Hill editor and writer, the founding editor of DuPont’s monthly “Journal of Teflon,” a freelance writer for an ad agency, the nonfiction book Pondering Life’s Imponderables, and the editor of five Amazon books by other authors.
Ghost of Africa’s heroic protagonist, Bret Lee, also comes alive in two of Chuck’s other fictional thrillers, American for Sale, (2016) and Spy Mates, (2013). His followers also enjoy his fiction in the humorous urban fantasy, Young Again…and Again…and Again, (2014). These retirement-era books, all offered on Amazon, culminate years of professional work immersed in nonfiction as a McGraw-Hill editor and writer, the founding editor of DuPont’s monthly “Journal of Teflon,” a freelance writer for an ad agency, the nonfiction book Pondering Life’s Imponderables, and the editor of five Amazon books by other authors.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 13, 2019
Ghost Of Africa is an ambitious work, a college professor going undercover as an arms dealer in order to capture a terrorist. Unfortunately the author doesn't quite pull it off. It has a narrative that continually bounces all around the world, little character development, stilted dialogue and a totally implausible plot. On the other hand it was a quick and easy read, however I cannot recommend it.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 4, 2019
‘Target not aware of my surveillance’
Florida author Chuck Van Soye keeps taking on new writing challenges, perhaps influenced by his background of serving as a chemical engineer, a participant in the sales and marketing aspect of business, and as an editor and writer for McGraw-Hill. He has written countless articles on various subjects from fact to fiction, from intrigue to expose of government and prison reform, from armchair musings on life, to science fiction fantasy. His writing style is straightforward, no pretense, easily readable and accessible, and able to blend intrigue with warm humor. This time ‘round Chuck is accompanied by California author Darren Van Soye, a world traveler and IT expert, who happens to be Chuck’s son.
Keeping up with Chuck proves a challenge. This now is Book 3 in his Bret Lee espionage thriller series, and for those for whom this is a first van Soye experience, it seems appropriate to recap the author’s introduction to his main character: ‘‘The heroic protagonist is Bret Lee, an unassuming middle-aged American. He could very well be your friendly next door neighbor who is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland. You’d never know it, but he’s also a part-time spy of sorts. He’s no 007, but thanks to his superior intellect and the few CIA skills he acquired, Bret and his lovely American-born Chinese wife, Chu-lin, have been infrequently persuaded to undertake critical, though unofficial, secret assignments . . . like finding and capturing Jacob Kunga.’
The Prologue to this installment is based on fact – Uganda, 1995, and the atrocities committed by guerillas from the Lord’s Resistance Army, and we meet the ‘ghost of Africa,’ one Jacob Kunga – though with respect to history, the novel that follows is fiction, and what a novel it is.
The synopsis is excellent, quoted here: ‘Bret Lee must capture or kill a terrorist about to shoot down passenger planes. The word among spook circles is that someone wants to buy ten surface-to-air missiles. Known illegal arms sources won’t risk it. Citizen-spy Lee gets recruited to find him and shut him down. His plan is to fool the terrorist into believing that Lee can supply the missiles, if he can be found. Bret play-acts as a rich playboy arms dealer, gambling in Monte Carlo, Macao and South Africa casinos, waiting to “be found” by the terrorist’s associates. Bret’s wife, Chu-lin, plays the logistics and social media role for the gambit back in the states, while Zhu, her brother, joins the field mission as well, acting as Bret’s bodyguard. Bret and Zhu are eventually escorted to a jungle hideout in the Central African Republic for a missile demonstration. The end may be near for the terrorist if Seal Team 7 and the Green Berets have their way.’
This is one solid, immensely entertaining and well-written thriller. Chuck Van Soye, and now with Darren Van Soye, must be enjoying his growing audience.
Florida author Chuck Van Soye keeps taking on new writing challenges, perhaps influenced by his background of serving as a chemical engineer, a participant in the sales and marketing aspect of business, and as an editor and writer for McGraw-Hill. He has written countless articles on various subjects from fact to fiction, from intrigue to expose of government and prison reform, from armchair musings on life, to science fiction fantasy. His writing style is straightforward, no pretense, easily readable and accessible, and able to blend intrigue with warm humor. This time ‘round Chuck is accompanied by California author Darren Van Soye, a world traveler and IT expert, who happens to be Chuck’s son.
Keeping up with Chuck proves a challenge. This now is Book 3 in his Bret Lee espionage thriller series, and for those for whom this is a first van Soye experience, it seems appropriate to recap the author’s introduction to his main character: ‘‘The heroic protagonist is Bret Lee, an unassuming middle-aged American. He could very well be your friendly next door neighbor who is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland. You’d never know it, but he’s also a part-time spy of sorts. He’s no 007, but thanks to his superior intellect and the few CIA skills he acquired, Bret and his lovely American-born Chinese wife, Chu-lin, have been infrequently persuaded to undertake critical, though unofficial, secret assignments . . . like finding and capturing Jacob Kunga.’
The Prologue to this installment is based on fact – Uganda, 1995, and the atrocities committed by guerillas from the Lord’s Resistance Army, and we meet the ‘ghost of Africa,’ one Jacob Kunga – though with respect to history, the novel that follows is fiction, and what a novel it is.
The synopsis is excellent, quoted here: ‘Bret Lee must capture or kill a terrorist about to shoot down passenger planes. The word among spook circles is that someone wants to buy ten surface-to-air missiles. Known illegal arms sources won’t risk it. Citizen-spy Lee gets recruited to find him and shut him down. His plan is to fool the terrorist into believing that Lee can supply the missiles, if he can be found. Bret play-acts as a rich playboy arms dealer, gambling in Monte Carlo, Macao and South Africa casinos, waiting to “be found” by the terrorist’s associates. Bret’s wife, Chu-lin, plays the logistics and social media role for the gambit back in the states, while Zhu, her brother, joins the field mission as well, acting as Bret’s bodyguard. Bret and Zhu are eventually escorted to a jungle hideout in the Central African Republic for a missile demonstration. The end may be near for the terrorist if Seal Team 7 and the Green Berets have their way.’
This is one solid, immensely entertaining and well-written thriller. Chuck Van Soye, and now with Darren Van Soye, must be enjoying his growing audience.
June 29, 2023
You got me at spy.
Ghost of Africa was enjoyable, and I really liked getting to know the characters.
The storyline is about Bret Lee, a professor and sometimes-citizen-spy on a secret contract mission to capture or kill an African terrorist leader, Jacob Kunga, along with his rag-tag army.
According to intelligence sources, Kunga is seeking to acquire surface-to-air missiles to shoot down airliners overflying central Africa and is on the lookout for a willing arms source. Contriving to attract Kunga’s attention, Bret play-acts as a rich playboy arms dealer, gambling in Monte Carlo, Macao and South Africa casinos, hoping to “be found” by Kunga and his associates.
Ghost of Africa was enjoyable, and I really liked getting to know the characters.
The storyline is about Bret Lee, a professor and sometimes-citizen-spy on a secret contract mission to capture or kill an African terrorist leader, Jacob Kunga, along with his rag-tag army.
According to intelligence sources, Kunga is seeking to acquire surface-to-air missiles to shoot down airliners overflying central Africa and is on the lookout for a willing arms source. Contriving to attract Kunga’s attention, Bret play-acts as a rich playboy arms dealer, gambling in Monte Carlo, Macao and South Africa casinos, hoping to “be found” by Kunga and his associates.
February 26, 2022
I was pulled in by the blurb of this book. Unfortunately, the author didn't fully deliver. It's certainly a globe-trotting story, and takes the reader all over. Unfortunately, the characters are all fairly shallow and undeveloped. Fun story, no serious grammatical issues, and interesting premise. With a little work, I think it could be a better book.
August 24, 2019
I found this to be a very disappointing read. The characters lacked development and the entire approach seemed very lackadaisical, almost as if this were a story written by a middle school student. The story lacked credibility and the characters were amateurish.
July 17, 2019
Chuck and Darren Van Soye offer readers a rollicking thriller featuring Bret Lee, a "citizen-spy." This is the third book to feature Bret Lee, and though I havent read the first two, I was easily able to catch up and follow the action. Action is plentiful in this thriller, and it's fast paced, but still seems balanced. The character are a little two dimensional for me, I wanted more layers. The settings change frequently and the threats encountered, while fantastic, are entertaining. If I had one complaint, it would be the use of scientific and military jargon, it got overwhelming at times.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews