As good as any thriller, this second of the adventures of Jim Corbett, tracker of mancaters (remember his Mancater of Kumaon, published in 1945). The story this time recounts the 125 recorded killings of the leopard of Rudraprayag, between 1918 and 1926, of the terror that hounded the Garhwalis and the pilgrims who passed through their country, the cumulative horrors as the leopard struck again and again, evading all efforts to trap and kill him, as plot after plot failed. Fishing and hunting expeditions are part of the overall record, but the story concentrates on the intensity of the problem of liquidating this cunning enemy. The stalking down of the murderer follows the record of his escape from traps, poison, snares -- to final success.