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. 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?

Peter Hain (the Lord Hain) was born in South Africa. His parents were forced into exile in 1966. He led the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Anti-Nazi League during the 1970s and '80s. Hain was the Labour MP for Neath 1991-2015 and a senior minister for 12 years in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments. He chaired the UN Security Council, and negotiated international Treaties curbing nuclear proliferation and banning the trade in blood diamonds. Hain has written or edited twenty-one books