Review of The Fighting Ibex

[Telwandle Ndwandwe]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fighting Ibex" by Leo Peterson.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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The Fighting Ibex by Leo Peterson is a historical fiction beginning in 1955 after the Korean War. It focuses primarily on Victoria Shannon, a 25-year-old gorgeous woman from New York who typically thinks she has found her true love in Sebastian. She instantly leaves everything behind thinking she will be starting a new life with her fiancé in Switzerland. Unfortunately, she is abandoned in Italy by Sebastian but instead of going back to New York immediately she decides to continue her stay in Cortina as intended. Interestingly she becomes acquainted to several military officers staying at the same hotel and establishes an intimate relationship with one of them. Will this be true love? Will she permanently stay in Italy, or will she go back to New York like nothing happened?

Leo Patterson is an incredibly talented storyteller because this novel is a page turner. The story comprises of 246 pages with chapters that are not excessively long. The principal characters were well developed and very interesting which is why I felt instantly connected to them. The historical events in the story were accurate and while reading I could tell that the historical facts were thoroughly researched. Genuine friendship, love and loyalty are some of the key themes that were adequately explored in the story, and it was such a pleasure to discover. The author’s unique style of writing is simple and easy to understand. I have read quite a few historical fiction novels and must say that this is my favourite so far.

This novel is a first of what is going to be a series, and I cannot wait to read more work from Leo. It is surprising that this was his first novel because there was absolutely nothing that I disliked in this story. I have to mention that there were a lot of profane words used, but I personally did not mind, and it did not affect my reading experience. There was in addition some erotic content.

This story exceeded all my expectations, but I must rate it 4 out of 5 stars because of the errors. It does not seem like the book was professionally revised because there were too many errors. This is a pity because it is an
extraordinary story but was let down by the grammatical errors. I would rate it a perfect 5 stars after it is carefully edited.

I sincerely believe this book would be enjoyed by a lot of people. I would recommend it to readers of historical fiction and those who appreciate a genuine love story.

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The Fighting Ibex
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