Tony Park

When a young American research assistant is killed by a man-eating lion, three people are devastated - Jed Banks, an American Special Forces soldier serving in Afghanistan; Professor Christine Wallis, a wildlife researcher in South Africa; and Hassan bin Zayid, a hotel magnate in Zambia. The victim, Miranda Banks-Lewis, was their daughter, protegee and lover respectively.

Former Australian Army officer Mike Williams is a man with a troubled past. A run-in with ruthless ivory hunters in Mozambique a year before ended in tragedy and left Mike's life in tatters.

Devastated, Mike forgets all plans for the future and takes a job as an overland tour guide in Africa. But then one day he receives word from the South African police that they are finally on the poachers' trail and they need his help to catch them.

Amongst the various tourists in his group is the tenacious English journalist Sarah Thatcher who seems determined to become involved.

Rhodesia, 1943. Paul Bryant hasn't been able to get back in a plane since a fatal bombing mission over Germany. So instead, the Squadron Leader is flying a desk at a pilot training school at Kumalo air base. Now, one of his trainees has just been reported missing.