A Falcon Flies

Book excerpt: BOOK 1 IN THE BALLANTYNE SERIES BY INTERNATIONAL SENSATION WILBUR SMITH 'Best historical novelist' - Stephen King 'A master storyteller' - Sunday Times 'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' - The Times 'No one does adventure quite like Smith' - Daily Mirror A DISHONOURABLE MAN. AN HONOURABLE MISSION. Dr Robyn Ballantyne has always worked hard for what she wants. Following in the footsteps of their father she and her brother, the celebrated soldier Zouga Ballantyne, depart England on an expedition to Africa, the land of their birth. Robyn is determined to bring an end to slave trading, while Zouga is certain that Africa will be the land that makes him, and determines to make his fortune there, whatever the cost. Manning the expedition is the notorious American merchant, Mungo St John. Robyn is deeply attracted to St John but is horrified to discover that he is a slave-trader, and that she is unwittingly travelling on a slave ship. Also vying for her love is the fanatical anti-slavery naval captain, Clinton Codrington. Kind and respectable, Codrington is deeply in love with Robyn, but despite herself she cannot return his feelings. As Robyn finds herself torn between the two men, she is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever, and which will shape the future for them all. The first book in the first sequence of the epic Ballantyne series Book 2 in the Ballantyne series, Men of Men, is available now.