Golden Fox

Courtney publication order #8

by Wilbur Smith

The Courtney family blood has long run hot - as hot as the passion and turmoil boiling in war-torn South Africa. When one of their own succumbs to the worst kind of evil, those ties are put to the ultimate test.

Isabella Courtney, dazzling daughter of South Africa's ambassador to England, is passionately obsessed with Ramon, the Marques de Santiago y Machado - also known as the Golden Fox, one of the world's most ruthless terrorists. When she secretly bears his child, Ramon kidnaps the boy and persuades powerful, yet reluctant, Isabella to betray South Africa and her beloved family... until the truth at last comes out, and the explosive Courtney's rally to her side and strike back with a raging vengeance.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Africa, Thriller, Historical, Action

576 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Wilbur Smith was a prolific and bestselling South African novelist renowned for his sweeping adventure stories set against the backdrop of Africa’s dramatic landscapes and turbulent history. Born in 1933 in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), he grew up in South Africa, where his love for storytelling was nurtured by the rich environment and tales of African history. His early years were shaped by his experiences in the wilderness, which later became a defining element in his fiction.
After studying at Rhodes University, Smith initially worked as an accountant, but his true passion lay in writing. His breakthrough came in 1964 with When the Lion Feeds, a historical adventure novel that introduced the Courtney family saga. The book’s success led to a long-running series chronicling the exploits of multiple generations of the Courtney family, spanning centuries of African and world history. Alongside this, Smith wrote the Ballantyne series, focused on colonial Africa, and the Ancient Egypt series, which delved into historical fiction with a mythical touch.
Over his six-decade career, Smith authored more than 50 novels, selling over 140 million copies worldwide. His works were characterized by meticulous research, vivid descriptions of the African wilderness, and gripping action-packed narratives. Whether set in the colonial era, the world of pharaohs, or modern-day Africa, his books often explored themes of survival, war, power, and human ambition. He collaborated with co-authors in his later years to expand his literary universe, ensuring his stories continued to reach new audiences.
Beyond writing, Smith was an avid traveler and adventurer, drawing inspiration from his own experiences hunting, sailing, and exploring remote corners of Africa. While he was passionate about wildlife and conservation, some of his views—particularly regarding big game hunting—sparked debate. Nonetheless, his deep affection for Africa was evident in his writing, which celebrated both its beauty and its historical complexities.
Smith’s influence on adventure fiction remains significant, with his books continuing to captivate readers around the world. His legacy endures through his richly woven tales of exploration, conquest, and the enduring spirit of Africa.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smith continues to top his previous novels in this instalment of the Courtney series, with Isabella the primary focus. Living with Shasa in London during his time as South African ambassador, Isabella meets and falls in love with Ramon. Unbeknownst to her, this 'chance' meeting is anything but luck, as the 'Golden Fox' is a close relative of Fidel Castro and a high-ranking official within the KGB. When Ramon impregnates Isabella, all is kept secret with a promise to announce it to the Courtney clan soon. However, the birth of young Nicholas begins the true nature of the plan, as Ramon and the baby go missing, leaving Isabella highly distraught. When she is sent a video of her son's close-drowning and threats of future mutilation as well as death, Isabella will do whatever is asked of her to bring her son back safely. The KGB and the localized African cell wait for Shasa to return to South Africa and his next posting, as head of Armscor, which is responsible for the country's nuclear weapons program, as well as build-up of toxic gas for use in the border wars. As Isabella leaks sensitive information to her handlers and fuelling the radical wing of the ANC as it seeks to derail the apartheid government. However, as Isabella learns, the organisation runs deeper than she thought and her own family may have weak links. It will take a major admission on Isabella's part to free Nicholas from the grasp of this organisation and her family, complete with Sean Courtney, high-ranking soldier in the Rhodesian Army, to orchestrate an end to the blackmail scheme. With wonderful historical explanation as to the Marxist flavour Africa took in the 1970s, Smith offers a powerful and stunning narrative that leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that this continent's corruption has close ties to the Cold War's installation of puppet regimes. Not to be missed by fans of the series.

How Smith can top each of the previous novels in the Courtney series baffles me, but he has done so, while weaving historical narratives throughout. The bloodshed, the puppetry undertaking by the USSR and the hands-off approach by the Americans left the region, the continent as a whole, as desolate as it stands at present. Smith moves away from the apartheid discussions and onto the horrors of Angola and Ethiopia specifically, where thousands died in major regime changes throughout the 1970s. This novels is surely a bridge to the last in the second collection, with a little mention of the Ballantyne family (another subject I believe is addressed in A TIME TO DIE), with another generation of characters working to play their part in the South African dream. The multi-generational theme becomes more apparent in this and the previous novel. While Smith preceded a few others, I can now see the ties to the Rutherfurd, Archer, and Follett series that deal with these family saga forms of novels. I cannot speak highly enough about this powerful series, dealing with the politics of Africa for which I have so long been pining.

Kudos, Mr. Smith for a powerful addition to the narrative laid out in the previous six novels in this collection, which illustrate the intricacies of the African story.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[LaWane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilbur Smith is an amazing author.

[Mark Edlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historical series
Smith just does not do female characters well. Isabella Courtney gets herself into no end of troubles because of dark, steamy eyes and no appreciation of her place in life. Some good action but not amazing. Liked the battle between Gary and Sean.
Canadian references - Shasa Courtney worried about UK blockade set up with Canadian navy participating; two references to Canadian banks.

[AnonymousReaderPerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of me really wants to eviscerate this book. There are parts that drag on and contribute little, if anything, to the narrative. Pages and pages spent on pointless dog competitions (don't get me wrong, dogs are cool), pointless leopard hunts, and marlin fishing adventures, and they did nothing for me. And while I admire stories that incorporate multiple angles of geopolitical intrigue...This one might have too many. There are South Africans, and Cubans, and Russians, and Israelis, and Ethiopians, and Italians, and pretty much some level of involvement, or at least mention, of every single country on the planet. It's geopolitical overload, especially when the focus of the story is supposed to be this upper crust South African clan which, as far as I can tell, doesn't have a redeemable or identifiable character in the whole lot.

Having written that, I'm wondering why I didn't just give it one star. I guess it has its moments. How's that for a ringing endorsement, to save this from the basement of Goodreads rankdom?

[Christophe B Y Demoulin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wilbur’s Worst

That was a poor novel in nearly every sense.

Littered with typos. (I’ve tried to request a refund…Amazon aren’t interested)

Storyline is dubious and padded out with irrelevant passages. What was the point of that fishing adventure!?

So many errors or completely unrealistic things. Two striking examples: a 1yr old weighing 16kg…nope, sorry, that has NEVER happened in human history. A 3yr old in control of their emotions sufficiently to understand body language from a person they hardly know - nope, sorry, still a big fat no-no. A 20-something man who can self fund the Red Revolution and do so at the drop of a hat by shooting now and again? Come on…it’s just daft, irritating nonsense from an author who lost his way.

Another two perfect humans beings (Bella and Ramon) with questionable morals and ethics? Wow, we’ve never had that from Wilbur before have we? Sean the first, Dirk the Evil, Michael the Good, Centaine the Thief (remember when she saved herself using insider trading?), Shasa the Pirate (apart for his one eye and lusty loins, he is faultless), Blaine, etc. These people have EVERY desirable attribute and outlandish wealth, but still make terrible choices and find themselves up sh*t creek with no paddle. But as good fortune has it, those billions in the Courtney coffers just fix everything. It would be nice for Wilbur to challenge himself and come up with a bit more variation in his novels.

Oh and what happened to Sean’s conquest from the previous book? Never mind…that was just a little money spinner for him although a much better book than this nonsense.

This was Wilbur’s least imaginative drivel I’ve had the misfortune to read and will end the Courtney Series here. Not worth your time…

[Coleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Wilbur Smith manages to write a terrific, fast paced and interesting book involving the Courtney family and one specific member: Isabella. Granddaughter of Centaine, only daughter of Shasa with three brothers. Remember her from prior books as the beautiful but spoiled child. She has grown up to be even more beautiful and incredibly smart. Unfortunately she does not always use her common sense and lets her emotions get away from her.

This story sets a fast pace but the length of the book allows the story to move over a number of years, all of them, in my opinion, exciting. The Golden Fox is Ramon, the Marques de Santiago y Machdo, and who can blame a girl for falling head over heels for this hunk of sex machine? He starts out with the beginning and is still there at the end. The reader will not want to miss one single paragraph!

And I am already looking forward to the next book, whichever it might be!

[Sharlene Almond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author has an extraordinary ability to both create dislike and admiration for his characters. The way he presents each characters's perspective without bias. Clearing seeing how each character progresses throughout the book.

A complex story of the Chilling and brutal battle of apartheid, Mother Russia's involvement and influence in Africa and surrounding nations in the 80s, and a mother forced to betray everything she knows to save her son.

One of the things I loved most about this book, was the detailed history of this era. One of the best historical novels I have read.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving on to 1970s. this ia a very political book covering not only apartheid South Africa but also the revolution in Ethiopia (quite gruesome and the Cubans in Angola (quite interesting).A real James Bond type of Cold War thriller.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but i hadn't realised it was part of the Courtney series and thus made the mistake of reading it before the two previous books. However it still made sense as a standalone story and was entertaining enough

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, favourite of all Wilbur Smith books so far.

[Gary Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes using far, far too many superlatives. So cliché. I made it through the book but I felt Wilbur Smith was writing in low level language.

[Renee Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favourite in the series. It started getting good towards the end but wasn't enough to save it for me.

[Rodica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not the 8th book, it is the 7th.
Anyway very interesting, did not really expected the end.

[Sharan Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one from the Courtney series with Isabelle, the primary focus, Wilbur Smith, has won my heart again!

While living with Shasa in London with Sasha, Isabella falls in love with Ramon. Unknown to her, this 'accidental meet' is not luck at all! And in fact, the 'Golden Fox' is a close relative of Fidel Castro and a high-ranking official within the KGB.

When Ramon impregnates Isabella, it is kept secret with a promise to announce it to the Courtney clan soon. However, with the birth of young Nicholas, the actual plans begin as Ramon and the baby disappear, leaving Isabella profoundly troubled.

Then she receives a video of her son's close-drowning and threats of future mutilation and even death.

Isabella is determined to do whatever is asked of her to bring her son back safely. Meanwhile, the KGB and the local African cell wait for Shasa to return to South Africa as head of Armscor - responsible for the country's nuclear weapons program.

She leaks sensitive information to her handlers and fuels the ANC's radical wing as it seeks to derail the apartheid government. However, as Isabella learns, the organization runs deeper than she thought, and her own family may have weak links.

It will take a significant admission on Isabella's part to free Nicholas from the grasp of this organization and her family, complete with Sean Courtney, to plan an end to the blackmail scheme.

The Golden Fox brings across a compelling and stunning narrative that is abosolutely a must read!

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Golden Fox is the 8th book in The Courtney series, although it is set before A Time to Die. That book is set in 1987, this story covers 1969 to 1979. Part of the story covers the South African Border War and the Ethiopian revolution.

I have enjoyed The Courtney series on the whole however my main criticism of them is the way Wilbur Smith portrays relationships in his stories. At times it’s very Mills and Boon. In fact right from the start of Golden Fox it feels like a full blown Mills and Boon book. Isabella Courtney is not one of Wilbur Smith’s best female characters.

After a poor start the book seems to jump about quite a bit, from Spain to Cuba and Angola to South Africa. A big game hunt is thrown in in the middle for no apparent reason. The start of the book suffered from too much sugar coating but the Ethiopian revolution is the total opposite. That section is extremely violent and gruesome.

In fact this is the problem with Golden Fox, it doesn’t seem to flow as well as the other Courtney books. That is until the end. It’s as if Wilbur Smith has finally got his act together! The ending saves the story. It’s gripping and action packed. It’s just a shame the rest of the book wasn’t like that.

Chronologically A Time to Die is the last in The Courtney series (after this Wilbur Smith takes the Courtney series back to the 1660’s). That book is a fitting end to the series not this.

[Mary Pimbblet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot of this really is all over the place. It starts off really slow and focussed with a simple, but completely over the top story of a woman trapped into having a child for a communist spy, and then ends up jumping into all sorts of weird places. For such a long book the ending is really rushed, and ends up being almost comical.
It's completely sexist. All the women, even the supposedly intelligent ones, don't seem able to do anything without men guiding them. But Wilbur Smith novels are all about the men, hunting, fishing and fighting, with a bit of politics thrown in, and this book manages all of that.
It's far too long, it's unnecessarily gory in places, it randomly includes long accounts of leopard hunting and marlin fishing that seem to be crammed in without any purpose, but there's just so much going on that there's got to be something most people would enjoy somewhere in there.
The Courtney's are all just an awful bunch of characters, but they certainly have action packed lives. The action scenes are really well written and manage to capture the pace of things but still remain clear, and Smith always does seem to do his research into his subject matter. I did find myself having to look up various bits of history to find out how much of what is written in here was true, Smith manages to include his characters into major events in a way that feels really convincing.
This isn't a great book, but its an interesting storyline and overall an enjoyable read.

[D.A. Fellows · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars. A fitting end to this Courtney sequence, and chronologically the final Courtney book of all. It's been quite a ride, from the 17th Century with young Hal Courtney sailing the high seas to the nuclear weaponry of the 1970's in this book. I think the Courtneys themselves got less likeable as time went on, but I'm putting this down as an intentional trend on behalf of the author, possibly a commentary on the increasingly self-centred nature of mankind. As is usual for a Wilbur Smith novel, the ending felt very brief and sudden, with almost no epilogue to the saga that has spanned thousands of pages, but the journey of the book was captivating and unpredictable. I particularly liked the mirroring of this book's finale with how the first book in this sequence (The Burning Shore) began: with a Michael Courtney falling to his death from an airplane.

[Mr Roy Davidson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nah, this one passed me by. Yes, it's sexist, but the Courtney sagas do not really come to life until Shaun (both original and rebel) get involved. Mr Smith may be seeking a wider audience, but this leads to confusion about the books being almost two story lines. Mr Smith seems to know that Shaun (number 2) is the star of the books and keeps him back until the later part of the book. Sadly, the first part of the book just passed me by with a lack of interest. This could have been reduced to less than half the length and still kept the main story line. At least it looks like the modern Courtney's have come to the end of the story and we now go back several centuries to how it all began. I welcome the next book and am glad to finish this book and move on.

[Giuseppe Saracino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro strano... All'inizio mi sembrava di vivere la storia d'amore tra Ramon e Isabella Courteney, e pensavo che avessi una copia farlocca del libro che doveva parlare di spionaggio, ma pian piano prende forma il diabolico piano di Ramon.
Smith introduce dei dettagli, a me graditi, sulla caccia e sulla pesca dei quali apprezzo la descrizione, nel finale spara del pepe sulla storia dimostrando la compattezza della potente famiglia courteney
Devo dire che il personaggio di Isabella mi lascia un po perplesso, inizialmente combattiva per disubbidire al padre, ma poi forse troppo remissiva

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another good historical(ish) thriller that follows the Courtney family, this time during the 70s where young Isabella Courtney is tricked into dishing out trade secrets and detailed information on weapons and satellite information to some not so pleasant characters. Against this backstory, we also follow the other members of the Courtney family as they go about their lives before uncovering Isabella's secret. I did find the main story a little unlikely, even for one as ditzy as Isabella, but this aside, it was an enjoyable read with a dramatic and entertaining conclusion.

[Alexandra Persson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have only read this one Smith book ( even though I have like 12 ) and I love it! I love that it's so exciting and you get to follow the South African adventures trough politics and get to follow a political war. I love all the characters and all of them together and coexisting makes the book better and more exciting!

[Peter Jochinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Wilbur's disappointments. I liked it only because our author gave it an ending to remember. The last 50 pages saved this story it was a shame that the first 200 pages was a hodgepodge of adventures that failed to build the story at the beginning.

[Valentina Manasiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that one: an African adventure with great characters, wonderful tales about love, betrayal, friendship, historical fiction about the Cold War. A bit of bias against some political organisations and a lot of glory around particular social groups, tough! Still, it’s fiction!

[a woolhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read but not up to his usual standard. There was too much political content, going off at tangents about characters I didn't care enough about. Not generating quite the usual tension and concern about the main characters.

[Victorvanr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old school story-telling that has been the trademark of Wilbur Smith. This book from the mid-90's reads like a book from a different era. Still enjoyable but no longer recommended unless you are a really big fan of Smith.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nova Scotia is not an island

[Irene Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a well-written adventure story.

[Chris Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

No so keen, the story is starting to drag now and modern era events aren't as interesting for me.

[Mrs R Kilkenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilbur Smith and the wonderful Courtney Saga

I will never tire of rereading these wonderful books immense pleasure of you have never read any start from beginning !

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 1 out of 5]

After the first two books in the first and second series of Courtney family novels, it has been mostly downhill. Wilbur became a hack, his writing a money minting machine. Golden Fox is bad. Almost the entire first half reads like an especially poor imitation of a Harlequin romance. "Oh, Ramsey!" as we constantly hear from heroine Isabella Courtney in various stages of undress and sexual intercourse. It's some of the worst cliched bodice ripper trash I've ever run across. Additionally, Bella is stupid. Amazing, because she seems to be able to knock off a PhD in political theory without hardly trying. Then, she claims never to have heard of the Young Pioneers. How does someone get a PhD in political theory during the Cold War and not know what the Young Pioneers are? But that was just a minor irritation. Idiot Bella manages to be duped, tricked, and deceived at every turn. She is the worst Courtney so far encountered.

Somewhere in this novel, there is also a story about South African and international communists, especially the Russian mastermind from Spain, Ramsey Muchado. "Oh, Ramsey!" Things run insipidly for about 90 percent of the novel. Then, suddenly, there is a chase, a plot, and a race to prevent a terrorist attack. Wilbur could have saved his boring novel had he started down this path originally, instead of going "Oh, Ramsey!" for most of it.

All of the Courtney novels seem to be text books about poor parenting and bad choices. This made me look up Wilbur's recent obituary. One of them said Wilbur saw himself in the heroes of all his books. That is alarming. Because most of his heroes are decidedly unattractive people at one level or another. So I read with interest that Wilbur had four marriages and was estranged from all his children. So, yes, he was a Courtney--the name apparently taken from the first name of one of his grandparents. The pity of this mess of a book is that Wilbur does a good job when he writes about the veldt. I like his historical adventures set in the wilderness and in the initial stage of building a country. But these latter books of an indulgent, entitled family that slurps up brand names and gorges on expensive food and wine all the time, these books begin to wear me down.