It takes one to recognise one. This was a man trained to live with, and by, violence. He was muscle, a soldier, in the jargon. I had hoped never to see this kind of barracuda cruising St Mary’s placid waters. It gave me a sick little slide in the guts to know that it had found me out again.
He left that life behind. But that life hasn’t left him . . .
Harry Fletcher lives a quiet life these days, running a tourist fishing boat from the peaceful island of St Mary’s, off the South African coast. Then his next group arrives, with very specific instructions for Harry – instructions that suggest they know exactly who he is. Before he knows it, Harry has been swept back into a world of greed and violence, of men who will do anything to get their hands on the treasure under the sea, and of women who are too beautiful to trust. But when the Great Mogul diamond is the prize, all Harry knows is that he’ll do anything to get there first . . .
Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He became a full-time writer in 1964 following the success of When the Lion Feeds, and has since published over fifty global bestsellers, including the Courtney Series, the Ballantyne Series, the Egyptian Series, the Hector Cross Series and many successful standalone novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. An international phenomenon, his readership built up over fifty-five years of writing, establishing him as one of the most successful and impressive brand authors in the world.
The establishment of the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation in 2015 cemented Wilbur’s passion for empowering writers, promoting literacy and advancing adventure writing as a genre. The foundation’s flagship programme is the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.
Wilbur Smith passed away peacefully at home in 2021 with his wife, Niso, by his side, leaving behind him a rich treasure trove of novels and stories that will delight readers for years to come.
