This has been such a busy year
that I've fallen behind on my Fight Card reading, a situation I'm going to
attempt to remedy, beginning with RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE, written under the Jack
Tunney house-name by David James Foster, who contributed the first international
entry in the series, KING OF THE OUTBACK. In this excellent yarn, boxer Brendan
O'Toole, haunted by tragedy and seeking refuge in the bottle, winds up working
on a construction crew building a hotel in an African country wracked by
revolution. When the Americans are captured by rebel forces, they're tossed
into a jungle prison camp known as Hell Camp XXI, which is under the command of
a brutal ex-Nazi who stages boxing matches between the prisoners and a giant
guard.
If that plot set-up doesn't pull you right into the story, you're made of sterner stuff than I am. Foster does a fine job with the action as the prisoners try to survive and O'Toole has to step back into the ring several times. The boxing scenes are great and Foster keeps the tension building to a satisfying conclusion. This volume is a good reminder of just how entertaining the Fight Card series is, and I hope I can get caught up on it soon. In the meantime, if you haven't read this one, you should give it a try.
If that plot set-up doesn't pull you right into the story, you're made of sterner stuff than I am. Foster does a fine job with the action as the prisoners try to survive and O'Toole has to step back into the ring several times. The boxing scenes are great and Foster keeps the tension building to a satisfying conclusion. This volume is a good reminder of just how entertaining the Fight Card series is, and I hope I can get caught up on it soon. In the meantime, if you haven't read this one, you should give it a try.
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