 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2016) |
 First Edition | |
| Author | Wilbur Smith |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
Publication date | 2013 |
| Media type | Print, e-book |
| Pages | 448 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-1250000316 |
| Preceded by | Those in Peril |
| Followed by | Desert God |
Vicious Circle is a 2013 novel by Wilbur Smith. [1]
Major Hector Cross, a British security officer, ex-SAS operative and owner of security company Cross Bow Security is settled into peaceful marriage with widowed billionaire Hazel Bannock, owner and CEO of Bannock Oil Corporation. Hazel is now pregnant, and has largely recovered from the death of her daughter; heiress Cayla Bannock (in "Those in Peril").
After a gynecologist visit, the pair set out in separate vehicles for their English estate. An ambush occurs and, while Hector kills the pair of gunmen attacking his wife's vehicle, Hazel is badly wounded from a bullet wound to the head. Rushed to hospital, their baby daughter, named Catherine Cayla Bannock-Cross, is saved by caesarean section. Hazel dies of brain damage the next day.
Hector believes the murder is the result of the blood feud from surviving members of the family of Hadji Sheikh Mohammed Khan Tippoo Tip (the engineer of Cayla's kidnapping, killed in "Those in Peril"). A second attempt is then made on Catherine and Hector's lives when a pair of hired thugs use white phosphorus grenades to burn down Hector's estate. The thugs are captured by Hector's security personnel and enough details of their employer are provided to identify him, but he is killed by Hector without giving up his employer (to save the life of one of his team).
Tracking down the new Tip Clan leader, Aazim Muktar, in Mecca, Hector secures Catherine in a fortress atop a skyscraper in Abu Zara. Hector then slips into Mecca to confront Muktar, only to learn he’s a peaceful holy man. Determined to identify the true villain, Hector investigates the business interests and past associates of Hazel and her first deceased husband and Bannock Oil's founder, Henry Bannock. Also at this time, Hector begins to accept his loss and move onto a relationship with lawyer Jo Stanley.
Jo's boss, Ronnie Bunter, Henry's old friend and Bannock Family Trust lawyer, gives Hector the details of the destruction of the entire Bannock family, in a novel written by Ronnie on Carl Peter Bannock, Henry's stepson (briefly mentioned in "Those in Peril").
Carl was born Karl Pieter Kurtmeyer, his biological father Heinrich was a German Gestapo officer, and despite being an acknowledged genius, no one was aware he was a cruel, twisted, sadistic monster. Henry married Carl's mother, Marlena, and takes both her and her son into his home and family, with Carl eventually becoming a company director and Henry's heir at Bannock Oil. Secretly, Carl sexually groomed his half-sister, Sacha, and eventually the abuse drove her insane, but the truth is uncovered by his younger half-sister, Bryoni, who secures Sacha's testimony on record. Carl is infuriated at being discovered and assaults and rapes Bryoni, only for the Bannock family staff to stop him and have him arrested by the police. With his history of abuse of his sisters publicly exposed, Carl's personal and professional life is destroyed by a public trial, which has him imprisoned in Texas on all charges for many years.
Applying his genius to his desire for revenge, and retaining his status as a Bannock Trust beneficiary, Carl befriends and begins a torrid sexual relationship with Johnny Congo, aka King John Tembo Kikuu of Kazundu, originally a refugee of African royalty, now a psychopathic ex-U.S. Marine and crime lord on death row for dozens of homicides. Using Johnny's connections and his own wealth, Carl has a gang of Mexican pirates break into the tropical estate of his mother and sisters, drown Marlena for her abandonment of him, and subjects Sacha and Bryoni to a horrific fate - Carl sells them to a South American brothel, where they endure countless rapes, beatings and heroin injections, both during the journey and endlessly upon arrival. Sacha dies of illness, and Bryoni is crippled and eaten alive by a pack of wild pigs. This is all retained on video at Carl's direction, which is then sent anonymously to Ronnie and shown to Henry. Henry, at this point married to Hazel and father to Cayla, is ailing due to age, bad health and worry of his missing daughters. The horrific scenes on the video cause Henry to suffer a fatal stroke, exactly as Carl designed. Hazel is then left to run Bannock Oil.
Carl is released from prison after serving his full sentence, and, knowing he cannot stay in the United States or modern society due to his crimes, engineers Johnny’s escape, and the two psychopaths restore Johnny to his African throne in the Congo. Establishing a kingdom of gluttony and sadistic murder, Johnny is a tyrannical king and Carl acts as his prime minister. Carl learns of Cayla's beheading in "Those in Peril", and this motivates him to have Johnny give the order to have Hazel killed. With the death of Hazel, Catherine is now the final heir, and Hector realizes Carl is the one who wants her eliminated.
With Carl and Johnny's activities facing investigation from the U.S. government, Hector gathers Jo and his team and marshals them to attack and destroy Johnny's kingdom. Johnny is knocked out and captured, while Hector cripples Carl and ignores his sadistic pleas of innocence and offers of bribes. Despite Jo's protests against killing the defenseless Carl, Hector enacts vengeance for Hazel and the Bannock family - Carl is thrown into his own crocodile pit and eaten alive. To prove his love to Jo, however, Hector agrees to turn over Johnny to the U.S. Marshals Service, so they can return him to prison for execution. Hector, however, does make a point of punching Johnny in the face after he shouts he gave the order to have Hazel killed at Carl's direction.
Believing the threat to Catherine is now totally removed, Hector and Jo receive the news Johnny attacked and killed three of his guards and escaped. Jo, knowing Hector blames her for stopping him from killing Johnny when he had the chance, and not wanting any further part in his extra-legal lifestyle, leaves him.
Hector is left on his own with his daughter, planning to hunt down Johnny.
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Carole Eastman and Rafelson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Lois Smith, and Ralph Waite. The film tells the story of surly oil rig worker Bobby Dupea, whose rootless blue-collar existence belies his privileged youth as a piano prodigy. When Bobby learns that his father is dying, he travels to his family home in Washington to visit him, taking along his uncouth girlfriend.
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins was a Northern Paiute author, activist (lecturer) and educator. Her maiden name is Winnemucca.
Ronald Wayne Van Zant was an American singer known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of two other rock vocalists: current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of 38 Special.
Kiss of Death is a 1995 American crime thriller film starring David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Helen Hunt, Ving Rhames, and Stanley Tucci, directed by Barbet Schroeder.
The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002. The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.
Phil Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden. He was introduced to the soap opera on 20 February 1990 and was followed by his brother Grant, sister Sam and mother Peggy. Phil was one of the major characters introduced by executive producer Michael Ferguson, who wanted to bring in some macho male leads. Phil and his brother Grant became popularly known as the Mitchell brothers in the British media, with Phil initially portrayed as the more level-headed of the two thugs. Storylines featuring the Mitchell family dominated the soap opera throughout the 1990s, with Phil serving as one of the show's central characters and protagonist villains since the 1990s. McFadden temporarily left the series in late 2003, then returned in April 2005 for a brief appearance before making a permanent return in October 2005.
Sean Slater is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Robert Kazinsky who made his first appearance on 22 August 2006. Sean's existence was revealed on 9 December 2005 when his sister Stacey Slater returns to Walford after their mother, Jean, attempts suicide.
Angst is a 1983 Austrian horror film directed by Gerald Kargl, who co-wrote the screenplay with cinematographer and editor Zbigniew Rybczyński. It follows a psychopath recently released from prison and is loosely based on real-life mass murderer Werner Kniesek. Though relatively obscure, the film was acclaimed for its camera work, score, and Erwin Leder's performance. It was banned all over Europe for extreme violence in 1983.
Ronnie Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, EastEnders, played by Samantha Womack. She and her younger sister Roxy Mitchell were introduced by executive producer Diederick Santer in July 2007. Ronnie is described as the "ice" to Roxy's "fire". As an extension to the already established Mitchell family, Ronnie quickly became a prominent character, taking over the nightclub. She later formed an on-off relationship with her business partner, Jack Branning.
Archie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Larry Lamb. He first appeared on 8 July 2008 as a newest member of the Mitchell family—who had first appeared on the soap in 1990—and became the show's main antagonist until the character was killed off on Christmas Day 2009; with Archie making his last appearance as a corpse on 28 December 2009 and later serving as a posthumous impact throughout the majority of 2010, which involves making a brief voice appearance on 19 July 2010 on a family video tape overheard by his ex-wife Glenda and their two daughters Ronnie and Roxy respectively.
The Mitchell family is a fictional family in EastEnders. They were first introduced in February 1990, when brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell bought the local garage – the Arches. Their sister Sam was introduced later in 1990 and their mother Peggy shortly in 1991, before being reintroduced as a regular character in 1994, with the role recast to Barbara Windsor. Since then, they have been developed significantly to include both the immediate and extended families. Phil has been the longest running Mitchell on the show, and the family has expanded significantly in the years since, remaining a large presence on the square.
Marlena Evans is a fictional character on the NBC daytime drama, Days of Our Lives, a long-running serial about working life in the fictional town of Salem. She has been played by actress Deidre Hall since 1976, but the character was absent from the show from 1987 to March 1991 and again from January 2009 to September 2011. Marlena was created by scriptwriter Pat Falken Smith and executive producer Betty Corday, and has become one of Days of our Lives' most well-known characters. Hall made her debut on the soap on June 21, 1976, currently making her the second longest running actress on the serial, surpassed only by Suzanne Rogers.
Those in Peril is a book by the author Wilbur Smith. The book focuses on the lives of billionaire Hazel Bannock, who is the owner of the Bannock Oil Corp and Major Hector Cross, an ex-SAS operative and the owner of a security company Cross Bow Security. This company has been contracted to protect Hazel Bannock and her business interest and the story unfolds when Hazel's daughter is hijacked by Somali pirates.
Vincent Hubbard is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Richard Blackwood. He was introduced by executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins during the show's 30th anniversary celebrations, and was later revealed to be the husband of Kim Fox. He made his first appearance on 17 February 2015 during the show's 5015th episode, and returned on two occasions on 19 February, one of which was in a flashback episode in which he gives Ronnie Mitchell a gun. During these appearances, he is only credited as "Vincent", concealing his connection to Kim. He returned as a regular character on 21 April 2015.
Hector is a 2015 British drama film written and directed by Jake Gavin. Starring Peter Mullan, it follows the annual Christmas journey of a homeless man from Scotland to London. His background is revealed as the plot unfolds.
Psychopath Diary is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Yoon Shi-yoon, Jung In-sun and Park Sung-hoon. It aired on tvN from November 20, 2019 to January 9, 2020.