The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (The Ballantyne Series)

When Wilbur Smith published this thriller in the early 1980s, the premise -- that the new government of Zimbabwe would make an alliance with Soviet Russia, kill white farmers and seize their farms -- probably seemed fanciful. Unlike most Cold War thrillers, parts of this compulsively entertaining book came true as Mugabe's Marxist government is now one of the world's worst regimes. Unlike Smith's book, there has been no happy ending.

Smith's protagonist, Craig Mellow, is a Rhodesian novelist who writes a bestseller about Africa (a slightly autobiographical premise) and wallows in international fame. He is losing his muse until he meets a young photographer, Sally-Anne Jay, whose pictures of Africa rekindle his desire to rebuild his family's ranch holdings, drawing both of them into a civil war that envelops Zimbabwe.

Smith's trademarks include heroes that beat impossible odds, caves with lost treasure, and deadly hunts through the wilderness and this book has all of the above. Smith likes to keep his readers entertained, and he's good at it. But his best prose has verisimilitude that most so-called "literary" writers can only dream about.

Like other Smith books, the plot is action-packed but plausible and there are moments of poetic beauty which convey Smith's sincere love for Africa as well as his affinity for one of Zimbabwe's ethnic groups, the Matabele. The Matabele were once more aggressive (and violent) but are now less populous than the Mashona, the group now in charge of Zimbabwe, thanks to democracy and the arbitrarily drawn boundaries of Africa. Similar situations were imposed in several countries after the exit of the colonial powers, resulting in ethnic conflicts.

Zimbabwe's land is severely depleted, its economy is ruined, and its people are in crisis. That story deserves to be told, and not just by thriller writers.

Author, Wilbur Smith really shows his love for Africa through his character, Craig Mellows. In this story he shows it's rich history; sometimes sad, but always exciting. This story is full of twists and turns and a lot of action which is only interrupted by the author's rich explanation of the area's history. The harshness of some of it's people are still seen in the headlines today and these battles still continue and brings this story very strongly to the present. I just ordered the first three books in this Ballantyne Series and look forward to reading them, fore Wilbur Smith is a great historical novelist.