The Animal Lover — Ted Botha

A series of curious events waylay four strangers in West Africa who are divided by seventy years but are somehow inextricably linked.A madcap chase through today's urban jungle in search of a priceless trophy gives way to a love story set in a mysteriously magical plantation in the real jungle of World War 2. As Upton Magna reads the 1940 diary of the dashing engineer Hercule, he notices eerie similarities between himself and the Frenchman. Even the two enigmatic women they are pursuing, Ella Bazaar and Sylvie, look and behave the same. Yet the only apparent connection between the four is an okapi, and their separate attempts to nd the rare animal lead them all to a cataclysmic showdown. Equal parts mystery, romance and adventure that crisscrosses the globe, The Animal Lover is reminiscent of Water for Elephants and The Life of Pi, a romp of a journey in time that will keep you guessing right up to the heart-lifting end.Praise for The Animal LoverA wallop of a read and a thrill ride through our steamy subcontinent. Deftly mixing William Boyd with Graham Greene, with a touch of Waugh.- The Guinea TimesI loved the cast of minor characters and scoundrels straight from the bars, salons and back alleys of Freetown, Lagos and Abidjan.- The Christianbourg CourierA powerhouse ending that brings to mind nothing less than Noah's Ark sailing off the precipice of an ocean.- The Fernando Po(st) & MailBrazzaville Beach meets Scoop.- Rangoon ReviewJust when you think you've figured it out, the story takes a wild U-turn, like Ella Bazaar's Pink Jeep. Speedy and adrenaline-pumping!- Dahomey Daily