First published 2022
Katie Barstow brings her Hollywood friends to Tanzania in 1964 for her honeymoon safari with new husband David Hill. The A-list actress expects luxury camping in the Serengeti with her glamorous entourage, including best friend Carmen Tedesco and acclaimed Black actor Terrance Dutton, her co-star in the controversial film "Tender Madness." They plan to photograph wildlife by day and sip gin and tonics by night while Tanzanian guides prepare their baths. Instead, Russian mercenaries attack their camp in a botched kidnapping. The gunmen kill their guides and force the wealthy Americans into Land Rovers at gunpoint. As darkness falls, the captors lock them in abandoned huts. Katie, accustomed to Hollywood royalty treatment, now prays simply to survive until dawn. This story explores fame, race, love, and death during a period of global transformation.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, contemporary, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, survival
Setting: Russia, Serengeti, Tanzania
Period: 1964
317 pages · Kindle Edition · Doubleday
Content warnings: violence