The Leopard Hunts in Darkness

Book excerpt: BOOK 4 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 FAMILY'S PAST. A COUNTRY'S FUTURE. Bestselling author Craig Mellow is tired of fame and wants only to return to his family's old home in Zimbabwe. When the World Bank recruits Craig to investigate ivory poaching and corruption it is the opportunity he so desperately craves to return. Under the guise of writing a new book on Africa, Mellow returns to his family's old ranch, Rholands, accompanied by beautiful young photographer Sally-Anne Jay. Although it's now derelict, Craig wants to rebuild and turn Rholands into a tourist safari, but he finds his way unexpectedly blocked by his old friend, now government minister, Tungata Zebiwe. With the corrupt government blocking his plans and new conflict on the horizon, Craig and Sally must fight not only for their lives, but for the very future of a country. The fourth book in the epic Ballantyne Series and the final instalment in the first sequence. Join a new generation of Ballantynes in Book 5 of the Ballantyne series, The Triumph of the Sun, available now.