The Leopard Hunts in Darkness

Part of the 'Ballantyne' series

The Leopard Hunts in Darkness is a novel of stunning power and pace, infused with a deep love for the landscape, the people and the wildlife of Africa.

Alone, disillusioned and empty of inspiration in New York, best-selling author Craig Mellow longs to return to his roots. Sole survivor of the Ballantyne family, who had farmed in the Zambezi valley for a hundred years, he fled the country when the bush war ended, and now he has lost his way.

So when he is asked to return to Africa on a secret mission funded by the World Bank, he seizes the chance. His cover is the writing of a book on Africa in collaboration with the brilliant and beautiful young American photographer, Sally-Anne Jay, but his real task is to send back information on ivory poaching and signs of Soviet interference in the country.

Back in Zimbabwe, exhilarated and full of hope once more, Craig embarks on a giant project – the restoration of the derelict family estates in the Matabele grasslands – only to be caught up in a bloody tribal war and pitted against a power-crazed fanatic who would sell his people into slavery and plunge his country into a new Dark Age.

This is a story of high adventure, of hatred and terrible violence but also of love, love of a man for a woman, of a man for his country, and love of a man for his friend.

Reviews

'Wilbur Smith's written another page-turner' – Daily Mail

Text and audio excerpts

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