The Rex Brandon, Jungle Hunter series continues with the fourth book, White Gold, again from Bold Venture Press.
This 12-volume series was published in England from 1951-52 by Curtis Warren. They were written by Denis Hughes (1917-2008), who was a prolific writer mainly of western and science-fiction works. He is largely unknown because almost nothing appeared under his name but rather under a dozen pseudonyms. This one appeared under the name Marco Garon.
Full disclosure: I was sent a copy to proofread.
This time our hero, Rex, a geologist and big-game hunter, is in Northern Rhodesia, which is today Zimbabwe. Instead of being on safari, he’s on vacation at a hotel. There he overhears an interesting conversation and meets with one of the speakers, a local rancher named Meyrick.
Meyrick has an interesting problem: he’s apparently discovered the fabled elephants’ graveyard. But he is wary of others who also want in. And as an added inducement for Rex, he has also discovered some ore he is looking for. So the two plan to head out before anyone can follow them.
But things aren’t so simple. There is a girl involved, pulled in by her uncle. But whose side is she on? The bad guys have also hired a pilot to help them look for Rex and his group. Rex tries to throw them off but isn’t entirely successful. Then they have to deal with various natives. One group is tricked into attacking Rex’s group. Others are followers of an elephant cult. And there will also be various dangerous animals, like rhinos (for the first time) and lions.
In the end, despite all the dangers, you know Rex and the others will get out safely. But will that include any ivory?
It’s another interesting read. Be advised that there is elephant hunting and some natives may not be depicted the way you’d like, but this is typical of the time.
I did like that they are trying to avoid being formulaic with the stories, moving Rex around. It will be interesting to see how the next stories go. Check this one out for some good jungle action stories.
This sounds like just my kind of thing, thanks for putting it on my radar.
I think Northern Rhodesia is modern Zambia. Zimbabwe is the old Southern Rhodesia, later just Rhodesia.
You are correct. My mistake for not double checking.