At Paul d’Arnot’s request, Tarzan guides an expedition searching for the missing explorer Brian Gregory. Rival treasure-seeker Atan Thome also wants the legendary Father of Diamonds, and both parties are drawn toward the remote city of Ashair and its dangerous priesthood.
Motorised expeditions and international treasure hunters give the novel the atmosphere of the late 1930s, while Ashair provides the lost-world mystery at its centre. The search for Brian Gregory and the Father of Diamonds becomes a contest of rival expeditions, hidden rituals and survival in a city cut off from the modern world.
The search for Gregory and the Father of Diamonds brings several expeditions into the same dangerous landscape for very different reasons. Rescue, greed and scientific curiosity become difficult to separate once the parties reach hidden communities that have their own conflicts. Tarzan’s role is less that of treasure hunter than guide and protector amid people whose obsession with the jewel repeatedly places others at risk.
Louis L’Amour
97 books
Christopher Nicole
49 books
Colin Falconer
22 books