Following the success of their poaching busting operation, the Hunt brothers are recruited by a station master in Mtito Andei to rescue his workers from man-eating lions. The plot is closely modeled on the 1898 Tsavo disaster where two male lions killed and devoured a large number of railway workers. This story is told by Hal near the beginning of the book, showing that the author wasn't afraid to acknowledge his source material. Although the Tsavo lions were eventually killed by John Patterson, Price justifies the new generation of man-eaters by claiming that the originals had passed the practice down to their cubs. There are plenty of facts to learn about lions throughout the hunt, not all of them accurate. For instance, the wild claim that lions have a hidden needle in their tail tufts with which to lacerate enemies was most likely inspired by the protruding bone which sometimes hardens to a sharp point.
Besides the lions, the boys must also watch out for three other enemies including King Ku, the racist station master who hates all whites, Bo, the son of a man who dies on their watch, and Dugan, a disgruntled hunter who lost his job to the them. Too many villains definitely over eggs the pudding in this instance, spreading the tension thin and diluting the drama. Meeting with a string of failures, the boys enlist the help of their previous employer and borrow a hot air balloon to use as a lookout perch. When one of their antagonists cut them loose, they are sent on a wild and dangerous flight over the Serengeti. This long section effectively works as an excuse to teach readers about the amazing landscape of East Africa such as Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater and more. This is one of the only books in the series where women make an appearance.
Rating: 3/5
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