EDGE OF EDEN

by Nicholas Proffitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 1990

The best-selling author of Gardens of Stone (1983) and The Embassy House (1986) relaxes--for him--in this powerful story of poaching, police investigation, and manhunting in the jungles of Kenya on the eve of Jomo Kenyatta's death. An obscenely symbolic killing in Aberdaire National Park--a poacher flayed and mutilated in a way that links his death to those of several animal victims--sets college-educated Luo tribesman Inspector Peter Odongo on the track of a well-organized, well-connected gang of poachers led by the shadowy Kikuyu tribesman called Fisi--feared by the neighboring villagers as half-man, half-hyena. As Peter moves to assemble a select group of trackers and hunters to catch Fisi's gang--a group headed by the white hunter Adrian Glenton, thrown out of work by the year-old ban on big-game hunting, and joined, to Peter's chagrin, by foulmouthed Newsweek ingenue Robbie Lewis--the lot is 'already in; and Peter--his cynicism sharpened by an official coverup of his last investigation--soon finds promising leads going to ground, witnesses clamming up, and informants getting sprung from prison or murdered. In the meantime, Adrian, like Proffitt's earlier heroes, works out his ambivalence toward his country and his heritage by going off on a rampage as violent as that of his prey. Although the corruption that's sanctioned the poaching will go on even after the final assault on Fisi, both Peter and Adrian will end up decorated with medals and appropriate consorts. Not as riveting as Proffitt's first two novels, but, still, a rousing, sweet-sour tale of justice triumphing over natural and official obstacles--all in an African setting evoked with urgency and love.

Pub Date: June 7, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION