Series: A Spear of Summer Grass, #0.5
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Released: April 1, 2013
Source: Kindle Purchase
Rating: ★★★¾

New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn takes readers into Africa during the height of British colonialism, to meet a man as wild as the land he loves in this prequel novella…

Kenya, 1918

Ryder White is Canadian by birth but African by choice. He is more at home in the wilds of the savannah, shooting and sleeping his way across the continent, than amongst the hedonistic colonists of Kenyan society.

In a landscape where one false move can cost a man his life, Ryder’s skill as a guide is unparalleled, but only the rich or royal can afford his services. When a European prince hires Ryder to help him hunt an elusive leopard Ryder thinks it’s just another well-paying job with yet another spoiled voyeur. But this perilous journey is full of dangers that may change Ryder forever…

Ryder returns in A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn, where he encounters a woman from a very different world, to explore beauty and darkness and what is truly worth fighting for.

FAR IN THE WILDS is a short 54-page prequel to Deanna Raybourn’s novel, A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS. Really, this novella is just an appetizer for things to come, and a good one at that. The setting is Kenya at the end of World War I, and I was captivated by the gorgeous descriptions of the African savanna.

Readers are introduced to to Ryder White, a Canadian living in Africa, as he guides a spoiled Danish prince and his mistress on safari. At this point, Ryder comes off as a little lost and a little brooding, independent, yet searching for something.

This was an exciting story that left me wanting to know more about its unique setting and enigmatic hero.

“Africa is a land of dreams and memories. It is rifts of remembrance
stitched together with the sighs of time.”