Book Review: Into the Darkness [A Piet van Zyl Adventure Thriller] by Paul Zunckel

Piet van Zyl steps into the darkness of the mind when a violent blow to the back of his head causes him to suffer memory loss. Left for dead, to wander the wilds of the Zambezi Valley, home to the big five, unarmed and with no memory of who he is or where he comes from.

The search is on for the burly South African, one a search and rescue, the other a seek and destroy. Who will get to Piet first… will he survive the wilds of Africa, the land he loves, or will it destroy him?

 

Action packed with several nailbiting suspense scenes

Reviewed by FSW 

The author posess the ability to smoothly tells a gripping story full of adventure and a lot of unexpected twists and turns. I admire Piet’s determination to stay alive, the courage he had to teach the rhino horn poachers a lesson they will never forget. I judge many a story from how I would have edit it, but Paul Zunckel writes stories that flow and there is not a single line/word that I would have deleted. The character Piet loves his wife dearly, I like the banter between them where she throws a boot at him and he ducked just in time. This book let me laugh out loud, and feel every emotion. It has severel nailbiting suspense scenes. The characters of Piet, Peggy, their baby Heather and Piet’s close knit friends Veronika and the Frenchman are believable and loveable. Even Piet’s workers has great admiration and respect for him and it is clear that Paul Zunckle succeeds in writing the character traits of each of his characters. Paul writes with great humor and insight which provide the emotion needed for spesific dramatic actions/events. I would recommend that you read all of his action-packed books.

About the Author

Author Paul Zunckel was born in 1957 in Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia. His family moved to South Africa in 1966, where he completed his schooling at Kingsway Senior High School in Amanzimtoti.

He did his two years National service in the South African Defence Force as an Ops Medic, wanting to follow his heart and study medicine, but life got in the way.
Paul was employed in Air Traffic Control for twenty years, and has been involved in Management positions for over twenty-five years. He has a Human Resource Management Diploma, and is an accredited Facilitator.

He started to write full time in August 2014, about something that is close to his heart… Africa. The mysteries, the superstitions, and all the beauty and treachery of the land. He holds his wife responsible for the road he is now traveling, as she was the driving force behind him in his Debut novel, Blood Moon over Africa. Since then, the stories line up to be told.

Paul loves to write as it takes him into another world, and he enjoys the reaction that he receives from readers.

Apart from writing novels, he also plays the guitar and writes his own material, although he is unable to read music. Music forms a big part of his life, and he can lay claim to having cut one CD, although he does say, “I’m too old to be an idol.”

He has two children from a previous marriage, and has been married to Lucie, the love of his life, for the last fourteen years. Paul and his family live in the Eastern Cape, South Africa along with man’s best friend, a cross Alsatian/Lab who answers to the name “Pooch” and is at his feet every time he sits down to write and will not move until “his human” is finished and types The End.