RED EARTH

A high-octane standalone thriller from Australian #1 bestseller Tony Park. Tony delivers a cracking commercial novel every year, and readers love his blend of mystery, romance and adventure. As Isobel always says, Tony Park is the author with the potential to become the next Deon Meyer.

Durban, South Africa, a car is hijacked. The owner, Shelly Pieters, fights back and kills one thief but the other, wounded, escapes with Shelly's baby on board. In pursuit of the missing vehicle and baby are helicopter tracker pilot Michaela Carr and vulture researcher Mike Dunn, the only man nearby on the ground who can follow the car.

South Africa's police have bigger problems: a bomb has gone off in Durban, killing the visiting American Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and chaos has descended on Kwa-Zulu Natal. Two teenagers, Themba Nyathi and Lerato Sibongile are caught in the whirlwind; the car thief is Themba's cousin and he forces Themba – a former bad boy now trying to go straight and be a model student – to be his getaway driver.

Lerato's the daughter of a rich ex-politician turned businessman with a mixed reputation. She and Themba find themselves on the run, with a baby, through wild game reserves from Zululand to Zimbabwe. In pursuit are Shelly Pieters and a gang of heavily armed men. Mike and Michaela soon learn that Shelly is much more than a worried mother; she and her comrades will kill anyone who gets in their way. They want a secret the baby is carrying – and so does the CIA. America's war on terror has come to the kingdom of the Zulus and the soil of Africa will once more turn red. Macmillan Australia and South Africa publish in October 2016, Macmillan UK in 2017.

Each of Park's thriller standalones has great characters and action and well-researched but unobtrusive background detail. Macmillan is seeking to position Tony's brand away from the ‘African adventure' genre, emphasising that these are simply great page-turning thrillers for an international audience. Each book wins him more and more fans across a variety of backgrounds, male and female alike.

In a fantastic starred review, Kirkus called THE DELTA ‘an engrossing story.... Clearly, Park knows and loves Africa. Don't expect damsels in distress in this novel. Do expect a thrill ride that won't disappoint.' Publisher's Weekly wrote that ‘Park excels at capturing the wilds of the continent' and, in another starred review, Library Journal described it as ‘A thriller that will make your heart race as you find yourself immersed in the struggle for survival.'

Born in Australia, Tony Park fell in love with South Africa on a short trip in 1995. He is a qualified military parachutist and a major in the Australian Army Reserve. He has worked in journalism and PR and travels extensively in Africa to research his work. Tony and his wife Nicola now divide their time between Sydney and their house near the Kruger National Park. Wherever he goes, he wins fans and I'd love to see a publisher deploy him effectively in every market.