Disclaimer: Tony Park is my son; that being said, however, without fear or favour in my opinion he has come up with an absolute belter in King of Beasts.
As in some of Tony’s previous books the prologue is from the point of view of an animal, in this case Nhena, a rare white lion. Nhena is coming to the end of his days, he is old and battle-scarred, and eligible to be hunted legally if he strays on to a Reserve whose owners have offered a licence to kill to prospective trophy hunters. Sonja Kurtz is back, this time trying, with limited success, to curb her wilder instincts while assisting her partner, Hudson Brand, in the running of the adjoining Reserve; Sonja’s daughters, Emma And Fiona, are in trouble in Ukraine; Mike Williams is in South Africa attempting to rebuild his business after the Covid devastation, and Sarah Thatcher is working for the BBC out of England.
Vasilly Orlov, another character from the past, has been released from prison in South Africa and has various scores to settle.
The story centres on drones, their amazing capabilities and deadly as well as benevolent uses; that is, on top of questions into the moral and ethical justifications behind trophy hunting; industrial espionage; a kidnap; a vendetta, and a rekindled romance or two. The South African bush, as ever in Tony’s books, is so real you could touch it, smell it, breathe it in and lose yourself in it (if you are that way inclined). The final chapters hurtle along in a heart-stopping race towards the finish. Well done, Tony!
Published by Pan Macmillan
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