DAVID WILLIAMS

Donald Card is an enigma. He was instrumental in the escape of Donald Woods and his family from Apartheid South Africa and yet a convincing case was made at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that as a Security Policeman Card was involved in the torture of detainees. It is such a pity that Mr Thomas was unable to make the best of the amazing stories that Donald Card had to tell. The book falls between two stools by failing in its attempts, firstly, to be a gripping adventure story and, secondly, to be a straight account of Donald Card's life. Perhaps the challenge that Mr Thomas faced was the difficulty of finding the truth within what Card told him. Of course there is stuff that took place during the Apartheid era that some people would prefer to remain buried away and there is a sense of that in some of Card's story.