The Hinterlands — Karen Mercury

The year is 1896. In the vast network of the Niger Delta waterways, where palm oil and blood flow from the hinterlands, the ancient Kingdom of Benin is under siege. Legendary trader and leopard hunter Brendan Donivan battles to protect his adopted homeland's sacred civilization from the colonial expansion of the British, while balancing his commerce with the whiteman's world. Life is not exactly easy. And it's about to get worse. Enter Elle Bowie, New York anthropologist. She says she's come to study clitoridectomy. She claims the crazy Texan traveling with her, the one whose jungle attire consists wholly of a Stetson, boots, and a gun, is her husband. But Brendan suspects there's a lot more to the lovely lady's story than she's letting on.Brendan, of course, is right. Elle has a lot more on her private agenda than the sexual surgical practices of the Benin women. And she's about to get herself into a bigger adventure than she'd planned on.Because Mateus, descendant of Portuguese soldiers, who's supposed to be her guide, is a traitorous gnome. The majestic and brutal General Ologboshere, in command of thousands of warriors, has taken an unhealthy shine to her. A passel of bumbling British consular appointees are screwing things up for everybody. But the worst, the absolute worst, is that super-feminist Elle is falling in love. With a guy who wears a skirt, no less. And although he dwells in Benin, land of ritualistic human sacrifice and juju religion, a land about to run red with blood, and although the lives and loves of many hang in the balance in The Hinterlands . . . Brendan's grinning.