After an accident leaves Tarzan with confused memories, he becomes involved with Orando and the Utengas in their struggle against the feared Leopard Men. A missing-man search and the presence of the American Kali Bwana add further threads to a story of ritual violence, betrayal and rescue.
Set in the interwar African world of expeditions and scattered colonial contact, the novel follows Tarzan through a landscape of fragmented memory, fear and competing loyalties. The Leopard Men are presented through the conventions of pulp adventure, while Orando and the Utengas give the story a more personal struggle over community, courage and rescue.
The Leopard Men are dangerous partly because ritual and secrecy conceal ordinary human motives. Tarzan’s damaged memory makes him especially vulnerable to explanations offered by others, while the Utengas’ fear gives the hidden society influence beyond its actual numbers. The adventure turns on distinguishing supernatural reputation from organised violence and on recovering the knowledge needed to act against it.
Louis L’Amour
97 books
Christopher Nicole
49 books
Colin Falconer
22 books