‘Every new novel by Giles Foden is something to celebrate’ Paul Theroux

‘An amazing and profound work, rich in memorable detail’ Jay Parini

‘Foden has cleverly reworked the grand African adventure novel’ Aminatta Forna, Guardian

‘A perceptive, compassionate history of an enormously complex conflict’ Irish Times

‘Sharp and fast-paced. Foden does a fine job of locating the reader in the maelstrom of this brutal period in Congo’s past, taking us deep into the heart of a complex conflict’ Observer

1996: in a Ugandan dive bar, the ‘freight dogs’ gather. An anarchic group of mercenary pilots from Texas, Russia, Kenya and Belgium who transport weapons between warring African nations, without allegiance.

And tonight they have a new recruit - Manu, a nineteen-year-old cowherd fleeing Congo’s bloody war.

Taken in by this band of unlikely brothers, Manu hopes to reinvent himself. But no matter how fast he flies, trouble always seems to follow closely behind…