The Bringing Down of the Hawk

A gripping family saga involving love, heartache, war, crime and retribution. The share market crash in October 1987 affected the lives of many New Zealanders. None more than that of Ted Starling, a childhood immigrant carried to those shores in 1946 in the wake of World War 2. Ted was ten years old when his father Staff Sergeant Eddie Starling was engaged with the 18th Battalion of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force combating the might of Rommel’s armour in North African desert. Eddie survived the ravages of Dunkirk, but suffered severe injury. His shell-shocked body was transported in its amnesic condition to New Zealand where a new life with a new identity was established. Sixty years of passion and devotion are exposed as a father and a son grow together as New Zealanders to form an inseparable relationship. Their story crosses five continents and five decades to culminate in a powerful, well planned and particularly personal act of retribution. Young Teddy Starling had been distressed by the death of his mother in Flying Bomb attack, but was compensated when reunited with his father, thought dead in the African desert. Teddy Starling the boy grew to Ted Starling the man and life was good for the Starlings in Auckland. Eddie’s time in uniform is well documented as is Ted’s, as he matured to serve his two years for the queen in her khaki uniform. Exciting things happened in Egypt that re-established old relationships. Out of uniform once more Ted dedicated his life to that of his father and newly found friends in New Zealand. As a successful businessman Ted travelled to Sydney where he was is devastated by the sudden death of his father. On his return Ted decided his father, Eddie, had lost his life in suspicious circumstances and Ted’s one reason to live was to expose the one responsible. Ted’s plan was powerful and intrinsic, but he became frustrated when he learned he had a terminal heart condition. He was advised his life expectancy was not sufficient to bring his adversary before the courts. His endeavours were further disrupted when the 1987 stock market crash claimed the life of the man he despised. Ted Starling recognised this death as fait accompli and now alone in the world he was satisfied his life after fifty years was at an end. Then the inexplicable happened; Ted fell in love.