Kundu

In the highland valleys of New Guinea a small colony of Europeans confronts the dark power of tribal sorcery. In a valley deep in the highlands of New Guinea lives a small colony of Europeans. One of them is Kurt Sonderfield, a doctor with a shady past who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. N'Daria is a hauntingly beautiful native girl whom Sonderfield has trained in the art of seduction. Kumo is a young sorcerer who has fallen under Sonderfield's sway. Only two dare oppose Sonderfield: the old French missionary Père Louis, and Gerda, the wife Sonderfield has betrayed. As the passions and power plays of the Europeans collide with ancient highland magic, the beat of the kundu drums thunders through the valley, bringing the story to an explosive climax. 'West is a great storyteller, a writer who can spin a fine yarn, and keep us guessing until the tale is told.' The Age 'A taste of what New Guinea culture was like before the arrival of the white man . . . a very satisfying ending.' Amazon review In a valley beneath the purple mountains of primitive New Guinea live a small band of white people. Some are consumed by enormous lusts for power that have led them to flee from Europe and here they can indulge their sick passions. But dark people of the valley are ruled by the throbbing, tribal Kundu drums that for centuries have urged them to frenzied sorcery. The result is an explosion of the terrible violence, echoing round the mountains like the Devil's own thunder let loose.