The Beast in the Jungle

April 1914. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit have embarked on a dangerous expedition down an uncharted river in the Brazilian Amazon. Threatened as they are by disease, drowning and starvation, an even greater peril awaits them when they are captured by a local Indian tribe, the mysterious Cinta Larga, and forced to hunt for a savage creature laying waste to the jungle's inhabitants.

In their search for the elusive beast, they find unexpected allies in a young mother and her half-caste child. But with hopes, dreams and lives at stake, father and son must confront the fissures in their own relationship and the dark secrets from their shared past.

This exciting psychological thriller, inspired by actual historical events and figures, charts an audacious journey through the Amazonian heart of darkness and explores the demons that live within and without.

“A mystery in the Arthur Conan Doyle tradition, had Sherlock and Watson been masochistic enough to volunteer for this dreadful trek . . . Bayard gives us a compassionate, unsentimental portrait of a son who would forever live in the shadow of a colossal father - Washington Post Bayard's heart-of-darkness saga is impressive-blood and sacrifice, primitive peoples and Roosevelt courage . . . [He] exactingly chronicles the hardships of charting the river, right down to the damp, dangers and drudgery of the Amazonian jungle . . . A suspense-filled reimagining of history deepened by a confrontation with evil's supernatural presence - Kirkus Reviews Bayard has written a riveting thriller and psychological study wrapped around historical events and people and gives the reader a real existential puzzle to put together - Booklist An edge-of-your-seat thriller with all the twists and turns of an unexplored river - Kermit Roosevelt III, great-great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, and author of In the Shadow of the Law Part mystery, part warts-and-all exploration diary, part mediation on the debilitating effects of depression, it's beautifully written and, despite its heart of darkness, great fun - Irish Times”

A mystery in the Arthur Conan Doyle tradition, had Sherlock and Watson been masochistic enough to volunteer for this dreadful trek . . . Bayard gives us a compassionate, unsentimental portrait of a son who would forever live in the shadow of a colossal father - Washington Post

Bayard's heart-of-darkness saga is impressive-blood and sacrifice, primitive peoples and Roosevelt courage . . . [He] exactingly chronicles the hardships of charting the river, right down to the damp, dangers and drudgery of the Amazonian jungle . . . A suspense-filled reimagining of history deepened by a confrontation with evil's supernatural presence - Kirkus Reviews

Bayard has written a riveting thriller and psychological study wrapped around historical events and people and gives the reader a real existential puzzle to put together - Booklist

An edge-of-your-seat thriller with all the twists and turns of an unexplored river - Kermit Roosevelt III, great-great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, and author of In the Shadow of the Law

Part mystery, part warts-and-all exploration diary, part mediation on the debilitating effects of depression, it's beautifully written and, despite its heart of darkness, great fun - Irish Times

Louis Bayard lives in Washington. He has written several novels, including Mr Timothy, The School of Night and The Pale Blue Eye, which was shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award.

April 1914. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit have embarked on a dangerous expedition down an uncharted river in the Brazilian Amazon. Threatened as they are by disease, drowning and starvation, an even greater peril awaits them when they are captured by a local Indian tribe, the mysterious Cinta Larga, and forced to hunt for a savage creature laying waste to the jungle's inhabitants. In their search for the elusive beast, they find unexpected allies in a young mother and her half-caste child. But with hopes, dreams and lives at stake, father and son must confront the fissures in their own relationship and the dark secrets from their shared past. This exciting psychological thriller, inspired by actual historical events and figures, charts an audacious journey through the Amazonian heart of darkness and explores the demons that live within and without.

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