Esau

I first read Esau years ago and I liked it immensely then and I still like it very much now. The premise in Esau is that there is an unknown biped in a range of Asian mountains, which sends a young UC Berkeley anthropologist to Asia looking for it. The young scientist finds a lot more than he had hoped for and wanted in action, violence, mystery, and love while he barely makes it back to the San Francisco Bay Area alive and in one piece--can't say the same for one of the protagonists, though. The story's tension zooms up and down like an EKG to a rapid and fitting conclusion in which the hulking hominid fittingly dishes up a coldly violent dish of karma..

I don't have a lot of money, but I just love Amazon, and I am going to keep shopping!

I love the stories behind the Yeti more than Bigfoot because there seems to be a greater possibility that this human exists. Kerr brings this possibility closer to reality. A thrilling adventure into the highest mountain range in the world.

"Never judge a book by its cover" (Except this one)The first book I read by Mr. Kerr was "The Shot". I enjoyed the book and was impressed by the skill with which he was able to spin a new tale about a subject that has been beaten to death, revived, and beaten again, for almost 40 years. Had `ESAU" been the first of his works I had read, it most probably would have been the last.The cover of the hardback does not give away the subject, the paperback is different artwork, and it is pretty blatant in exposing the story. If you are someone who is interested in the "Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch, ESAU" you will enjoy the book. As he has done with the subject of "The Shot" he creates a new situation and adds great detail. I cannot stomach the subject so I never would have finished the book but for Mr. Kerr's writing.I enjoy well-researched reading. Mr. Kerr does his homework and that was what kept me reading. Every time I was going to give up, some detail appeared and it was enough to keep me going. The ending can be anticipated a bit past the halfway mark, but again his style kept me reading.Mr. Kerr writes some great dialogue. In this work I particularly enjoyed a lecture by a college professor, both for the way he wrote it and the information it contained. On the other end of the character spectrum he had a few CIA types that were awful, not one line of their story/subplot was needed, and the behavior by one at the close of the book was completely out of place, gratuitous, the real low water mark in the book.So, I have read 2 of his books and it was 1 great read and then this very marginal work. So off I went and read "A Five Year Plan". Best of 3 would decide whether I bought anymore of this Author's work.I read it and the review should be just behind this one.

Jack Furness is a mountain climber and by accident he comes upon a skull while climbing the Himalayan Mountains. And he just happens to have a girl friend that is an paleoanthropologist, Stella Swift. After smuggling the skull back to the good ol' US of A he gives Stella the skull. Which just happens to be the most unusal skull she has ever seen. She is so excited by this discovery she wants to go back to the Himalaya's with an expedition to look for more bones right away.In steps the good ol' CIA with funding, under a pretense of needing to go to the Himalayan's for a weather testing expedition but needing a guide and have to leave within the next 2 weeks, if you let me go along I'll pay. So they get their funding and are off to the Himalayan's.And the fun has just begun. The expedition has all the latest technology, of course and all the comforts of home...well almost. They set out on a seek and find mission and stumble upon some very unusual foot prints the first night out. The graphic descriptions are vivid and makes me not want to be there. Very detailed and realistic discriptions. They even throw in a yogi to boot.This is the first time I have read this author and will read him again. A great thriller, fast paced and a quiet enjoyable read. Don't know what the complaints were about, I have none.

Philip Kerr is a writer of undeniable skill, but in Esau, his novel combining an expedition in search of the Abominable Snowman with an espionage/thriller subplot, he stretches credulity to the limit and leaves the reader longing for a more coherent story and more believable characters. The hero, for example, in order to satisfy his curiosity about a change in funding recommended by the National Geographic Society for his proposed expedition, breaks into the headquarters building in downtown Washington, DC so that he can rummage through the office of one of the decision makers. Does Kerr really expect that readers will think that risking a felony B&E charge to satify one's curiosity is normal - or even OK? There's a lot of over the top stuff like this in the book, and it makes it hard to relate to.There is no question that Kerr is a writer of great talent in some ways. His prose is beautiful to the ear and he pulls off occasional passages as insightful and resonant as anything being written today. But Esau, taken as a whole, seems like a great idea gone awry.

One of his best. This thriller, written 1996, takes readers to the Himalayan peaks. It is convincing, informative and exciting. There’s intelligent backing to the yeti hunt, treacherous icefields, scary cliffs and a murderous unknown spy. And let’s not forget Esau and his hairy tribeSpeculation on evolution and the origin of humans comes from the author’s hard research and a bibliography of scientific experts. A mix of nationalities in the expedition, and their conflicting personalities, add to the tension.

I am a big fan of Philipp Kerr. RIP

A good adventure story combing science with fantasy and excitement.

Enjoyable

A few doodles in the book and delivered a day later than I hoped

everything ok