I’ve been a fan of Felix Hart, Peter Stafford-Bow’s lusty and adventuresome hero who works for British grocery giant Gatesave, since the publishing of Corkscrew, the first in a series of three Felix Hart adventures. In Firing Blancs, the latest tale published in May, Felix is trotting the globe again, this time to South Africa.
Reading the book without first perusing the promotional material, I was delighted to find the story was located in one of our favorite wine destinations: South Africa. Through the book, we were able to relive some of our favorite stops such as Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and the Helshoogte Pass.
After choking his CEO to death (accidentally) during a boardroom presentation, Felix is off to South Africa to try to avoid a public relations disaster. Gatesave’s largest South African supplier has been discovered to have brutal and oppressive working conditions. Felix must somehow work with the recalcitrant winery owner to triple his workers’ pay and earn a certification of fair and humane work practices -- certainly a daunting task.
Working undercover as a representative of the Tears of Pity charity, Felix finds himself assaulted, blackmailed and imprisoned in a sketchy township guesthouse. Our hero bounces from one dire situation to another, eluding the jaws of vicious guard dogs, the clutches of a revolutionary leader and the insanity of the tyrannical new CEO of Gatesave.
Felix and Stafford-Bow handle each situation with panache and hilarious results. This book could not have come along at a better time. We all need a laugh right about now. Firing Blancs is a perfect escape into the wine world of South Africa and an adventure filled with mayhem, some madness and complete fun.
Firing Blancs is published by Acorn Publishing and is available on Amazon for $11.99.
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