In the last decade over 6,000 rhinos have been killed in South Africa. Relentless poaching for their horns has led to a catastrophic fall in black rhino numbers. Meanwhile, a corrupt South African government turns a blind eye to the international trade in rhino horn.

This is the background to Peter Hain’s brilliantly pacey and timely thriller. Battling to defend the dwindling rhino population, a veteran freedom fighter is forced to break his lifetime loyalty to the ANC as he confronts corruption at the very highest level. Hell-bent on catching the poachers and exposing their trade, the veteran and his young ‘born free’ colleague hatch a plan to install a GPS tracking device inside a replica horn in an attempt to locate its destination. The stakes are high.

Can the country’s ancient rhino herd be saved from extinction by state-sponsored poaching? Has Mandela’s ‘rainbow nation’ been irretrievably betrayed by political corruption and cronyism?