Review: Mark of the Lion

In this first of a series set after World War I, Arruda introduces brave and beautiful Jade del Cameron, a New Mexican rancher’s girl, lately of the British ambulance corps in France. Jade saw plenty of action fetching casualties off the front lines and a form of shell- shock has lingered with her, sparked by loud noises or the sound of wild, hysterical laughter.

Near the end of the war, she lost a dear friend, David, a pilot whose marriage proposal she had just refused. He died in her arms after a dogfight with a German plane and pressed a ring on her with a final request “Find my brother.”

Motivated partly by guilt (had he been showing off to impress her?), partly by love, and partly by her yen for adventure, Jade accepts a post on a travel magazine and a mission from David’s father’s lawyer, who hands her a packet to deliver when she finds the unknown half- brother somewhere in Africa.

David’s father had gone to Africa to seek his fortune. A few years later he’d gone back again to seek his illegitimate son. But he died without finding the son and when Jade gets to Nairobi she discovers his death was more than strange – he was killed by a hyena in his room in Nairobi’s finest hotel.

As Jade makes her way through African society – an American made uncomfortable by the strictures of class and race – she learns Swahili, moves to a coffee plantation, navigates the rutted roads of Africa in an unreliable car, and saves a boy and a village from a bewitched hyena. This event begins her real adventure as she gains the gratitude and aid of the village while attracting the enmity of the witch, a shadowy, sinister figure whose point of view punctuates the narrative with periodic bloodthirsty malevolence.

Jade is a forthright, blunt-spoken, action-oriented heroine who knows more about guns than fashion. Clips from her travel articles head up each chapter and the action moves swiftly through bush and ballroom until it culminates in a sufficiently atmospheric and danger-riddled safari.

Arruda does a particularly good job of evoking the feel of colonial Africa – the heat, the amazing animals, the superstition and the Brits. Jade is plenty likable though there are a few too many mentions of her green eyes. And maybe somebody could rescue her once in a while instead of her having to do all the crack shooting herself. But the period is well drawn and the story succeeds in absorbing the reader. This reader, for one, looks forward to her next outing.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: Mark of the Lion

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.