Chris Bohjalian: The Lioness, Doubleday ( Penguin Random House US), 978038554482%, hardback

This reading choice came by recommendation of a friend who knew I had been on several African photo safaries. Chris Bohjalian is best known as the author of The Flight Attendant which was turned into an HBO series.  

"The Lioness" is set in Tanzania and the Serengeti of 1964 , where  Hollywood actress Katie Barstow and her husband David Hill have arranged to spend their honeymoon on photo safari with an exclusive entourage:  best friends Carmen Tedesco and Terrance Dutton, both actors, Reggie Stout, Katie's PR man and Peter Merrick her agent , Billy Stepanov her brother and his wife Maggie,  and Felix Demeter, Carmen's husband. When a group of Russian mercenaries ambush their camp killing some of their African guides, their luxury trip turns into a nightmare.

I was really impressed by the gripping plot of this novel. The story gets its dramatic edge from being told from the perspective of each of the safari members with flashbacks to their Hollywood connections and their current situation. Benjamin Kikwete, one of the young African guides, has a special voice and role in the plot.

As the kidnapping starts to go wrong for all parties involved, a drama unfolds which kept me in suspense until the last page. I was surprised to discover that the author is not translated into German or has gone out of print. I would certainly pick up the rights for this one, an excellent historical thriller.