A baby screams in the back seat of a car stolen by a crazed car thief on the run. A kidnapped schoolgirl and the thief ’s cousin are also unwillingly going along for the ride. They are being chased by a car recovery team (in the air and on the ground), three mysterious men in a black Audi (armed with automatic weapons) and wildlife researcher Mike Dunn, not to mention the child’s mother. Her motives are somewhat clouded – possibly because she shot one of the carjackers dead but did not report either the killing or the carjacking to the police. But why does she seem to view recovering her baby as secondary to recovering the vehicle?

Mike starts off as a peripheral character but, as people fall dead and wounded around him, he discovers the extent of his personal investment in the recovery of the abductees and finding out why this particular vehicle is so important to so many people. A lot of people are going to die during this chase; it never really lets up until almost the final chapter, as Tony Park springs one twist after another. The story grabs you by the neck from almost the first page and takes you for a wild ride through cities and wildlife game reserves from Zululand to Zimbabwe.

A few of the characters seem a touch naive (and they pay for their lack of guile) but Park leads you on a wild ride, liberally bespattering the African landscape with blood and bodies but also taking time to highlight the plight of the African vulture and its important role in the ecosystem. This is a worthy read from one of Australia’s heirs to the Wilbur Smith legacy.

Reviewed by Brooke Walker