Sundowner Ubuntu: A Russell Quant Mystery #5
2008 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best Men's Mystery
2009 CNIB version, narrated by Hank Lobbenberg
ISBN 13: 978-1-897178-43-0
A mother’s pain. A million dollars. A missing son. Desperate to right old wrongs, a new client hires Russell Quant to locate her son, Matthew, lost to her for twenty years. But can money relieve remorse? Through good old-fashioned detective work, Russell peels away the layers of a carefully-concealed life, grown from seeds of traumatic childhood and violence. Tracking Matthew’s life from the schoolyard drug culture of a pleasant prairie city’s underbelly to the stunning vistas, vibrant townships and tinderbox safaris of Africa, Russell finds much more than what he was looking for.
Ever adept at making both friends and foes, worlds collide as Quant runs a gauntlet of uncharted danger. Thrust into the unfamiliar role of bad guy, stymied by seemingly insurmountable distrust and base fear, Russell cuts a blistering swath through covert threats and overt bullets. But as he searches for his Canadian needle in an African haystack, the brutality escalates. Confronting his own role in the cause and effect of scars and anger, retribution and revenge, Russell Quant faces a difficult question: What happens when the prodigal son resists the return?
Chapter 8
"Lying at the foot of its most famous landmark, Table Mountain, Cape Town is situated at the southern tip of Africa..."
Arriving in Cape Town with Cassandra Wellness - Chapter 8
Cape Town, South Africa
Chapter 8
"...a massive foyer dominated by a huge spray of sunflowers, a welcoming sitting area, and geometric-patterned marble floor so shiny it appeared to be under a layer of crystal cool, clear water."
Russell arrives at the Table Bay Hotel - Chapter 8
Cape Town, South Africa
Chapter 9
"...at the south-western most point of the African continent, Cape of Good Hope seems like the edge of the earth."
Touring Cape of Good Hope with Cassandra Wellness - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
"...a tiled front courtyard dotted with potted plants, and a yellow sign on which was scripted, in vertical, the word Lelapha."
Arriving in Lelapha in Langa Township with Cassandra and Joseph - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
"...I couldn't quite believe that I was about to fly across South Africa and into Botswana in this...this...tsetse fly."
Flying from Johannesburg to Mashatu - Chapter 9
South Africa
Chapter 10
"On the wall behind the combined bed were two huge, exquisitely framed, black-and-white prints: one of a rather pensive looking lioness, the other of a powerful elephant..."
Russell's room at Mashatu Safari Lodge - Chapter 10
Chapter 10
"Well spotted, Stuart, well spotted...Garry had, quite skillfully I might add, put an end to my interrogation."
On Disappointment Hill - Chapter 10
Mashatu, Botswana
Chapter 10
"The custom of having cocktails and a bite to eat during the sunset hour..."; He shot me a sideways look and with a rakish smile added: "...is the only good thing the British gave to Africa.";
Safari guide, Gary, explaining a sundowner to Russell - Chapter 10
Chapter 10
"...the seven of us made for a quiet parade down the rock-lined, gravel pathway that led to the guest quarters..."
Returning from safari - Chapter 10
Mashatu, Botswana
Chapter 10
"Good riddance, I thought to myself as I turned and headed for the airport building with its low-slung, thatched, overhang roof."
Russell is abandoned at Limpopo Airfield - Chapter 10
Chapter 11
"...African scrubland, repeating itself over and over again for miles and miles, like a house of mirrors reflecting in on its own reflection."
Russell looking out from his African exile - Chapter 11
Chapter 12
"...all the rooms in the lodge overlook the Chobe River and adjacent Caprivi floodplain..."
Russell casing out Chobe Safari Lodge - Chapter 12
Chobe, Botswana
Chapter 13
"I realized this was probably one of the boats used for the lodge's water-based safaris, but somehow I didn't think this voyage was going to be a pleasure ride."
Russell led to the river's edge at gunpoint - Chapter 13
Chapter 13
"Hippopotamus are the most dangerous animal in the water in Africa...They will snap you in half with their jaws, just because they can."
Jaegar threatening Russell - Chapter 13
Chobe, Botswana
