Afghanistan in 2002. Park and his wife divide their time between Sydney and southern Africa where they own a home on the border of the Kruger National Park.Park applied the Page 69 Test to his novel Ivory and reported the following:
From Page 69:Visit Tony Park's website.
Jane was having trouble sleeping. She checked the digital clock-radio on her tiny bedside table. Two am.Page 69 of Ivory is, coincidentally, a pivotal moment in the story and the lives of the characters who populate it.
She rolled over, and tried to get comfortable, but to no avail. She’d been dreaming about pirates, and being forced to jump overboard at gunpoint from the stern rail of the Penfold Son – like being made to walk the plank. There were sharks in the water below.
It was stuffy in the cabin. The air conditioning was too cold. It seemed to be stuck on the highest setting so she’d turned it off. She swung her legs out of bed and swapped her pyjamas for a pair of cargo shorts and T-shirt. She slipped on her sandals. Strictly speaking, passengers were not supposed to be on the open deck at night time for safety reasons, but the first mate had seen her once before taking a stroll in the moonlight, and had simply waved and smiled.
Jane made her way to the hatch leading to the open deck and sighed with relief at the gush of fresh air that greeted her. She walked outside and saw the sky was clear. The full moon was starting its descent towards the western horizon and as its light waned more stars were appearing above. Somewhere out there was the coast of Africa – Mozambique.
Our flawed hero, ex-Special Forces soldier turned modern day pirate Alex Tremain and his band of rogues has just boarded a Chinese freighter off the coast of Africa. On board they’ve discovered a disturbing cargo of elephant ivory, rhino horn and live animals in appalling conditions, all destined for illegal markets in Asia.
Alex is a pirate with a conscience and he wants to not only capture this ship to make some money (he’s in the process of renovating an island resort – it’s complicated), but also to free the captured wildlife.
Just as his band are getting ready to storm the freighter’s bridge we cut to our leading lady, corporate lawyer Jane Humphries who’s hitching a ride to South Africa on board the flagship of her rich shipping magnate boyfriend’s flagship, the MV Penfold Son.
A very dirty deal is about to go down. Alex will see some mysterious, valuable, cargo being transferred from the Chinese ship to the Penfold Son. Once he takes down the vessel full of illegal wildlife cargo he’s going after his white whale, the ship carrying Jane and whatever else is on board.
Jane’s heard tell that there are pirates in these waters – she’s even had a nightmare about it – but little does she know she’s about to meet her very own Johnny Depp.
My Book, The Movie: Ivory.
--Marshal Zeringue
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