Dance of the Firebirds: A Novel

Chris Ryan was no stranger to trouble After riding his bicycle on the corrugated iron roof of a country court-house during the trial of a friend by an unpopular magistrate, he progressed to burning down the shooting hides of a game-cropper who had poisoned waterholes on his father's neighbouring game ranch. To avoid arrest, his father hurriedly packed him off to a friend in Australia. "It's where they send all criminals like you," his father joked. But Chris had other plans.˃˃˃ The Bush WarIt was a more responsible Chris who returns with his bride to take on the running of the game ranch, but the Rhodesian Bush War intervenes and they are forced to leave for safety. Chris joins the Selous Scouts.˃˃˃ Mozambique...During an attack on a hilltop in Mozambique, the discovery of a clay jar containing ancient Phoenician Papyri seems of little consequence to Chris, until he hands it in to the wrong authority.˃˃˃ The charactersZarena Bontouxis a victim of female genital mutilation and a heiroglyphics expert at the Cairo Museum in Egypt. A copy of the papyri is sent to her to decipher, but simply possessing it leads to the unraveling of her own history and the revisiting of a tragic past at the hands of her radical Islamic father.Sir Percy Ladbrokeis Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. The days of the spies and 'ring of five' have long gone, but the legacy remains. A seemingly harmless gathering of retired old friends, meeting each Friday night at the club to help one of their own in a time of need.Silas Tongarais the most wanted terrorist sought by the Rhodesian security forces for his brutal atrocities, many against his own people.˃˃˃ Reviewer: Ray Franklin - Sunshine Coast DailyJerold Richertis the latest of a long line of old African hands who writes with feeling about what he knows best. ”�Happily, though, his passion is equaled by his proficiency. He writes well, and he has a fine tale to tell.”�The author, who now lives in Buderim, was born in South Africa, but spent his formative years in Rhod