Dead of Night by Michael Stanley @detectivekubu @OrendaBooks @annecater #blogtour #RandomThingsTours #DeadofNight

It’s a pleasure to welcome you all to my stop on the blog tour for Dead of Night by Michael Stanley today! My thanks to Anne Cater for the invitation to join and to the publisher for my review copy.

Author : Michael Stanley
Title : Dead of Night
Pages : 320
Publisher : Orenda Books
Publication date : June 15, 2018 (ebook)

When freelance journalist, Crystal Nguyen, heads to South Africa, she thinks she’ll be researching an article on rhino-horn smuggling for National Geographic, while searching for her missing colleague. But, within a week, she’s been hunting poachers, hunted by their bosses, and then arrested in connection with a murder. And everyone is after a briefcase full of money that may hold the key to everything.

Fleeing South Africa, she goes undercover in Vietnam, trying to discover the truth before she’s exposed by the local mafia. Discovering the plot behind the money is only half the battle. Now she must convince the South African authorities to take action before it’s too late. She has a shocking story to tell, if she survives long enough to tell it…

You may be familiar with the crime writing duo of Michael Stanley from their bestselling Detective Kubu series but their latest book, Dead of Night, marks the publication of their first ever stand-alone thriller.

Freelance journalist, Crystal Nguyen, travels to South Africa to write an article about rhino-horn smuggling for National Geographic and to find out what has happened to her friend and colleague, Michael, who disappeared a month ago while on the trail of smugglers. Crys is fiercely determined and a strong athlete but she will have to dig deep to survive this assignment.

Set mostly in the glorious landscape of Africa, where bribery and corruption seem to reign supreme, Crys quickly finds herself in danger. Because smugglers will stop at nothing to protect their lucrative business dealings. Crys is soon caught up in the action, from hunting poachers to being hunted herself. But is there anyone she can trust?

Dead of Night tackles an immensely thought-provoking subject, something I’ve come to expect from Michael Stanley. Rhino-horns are used in medicine, mostly in countries like Vietnam where demand is high. Conservation organisations do what they can to protect the animals but with poor villagers doing whatever is necessary to earn money for their families, they face an immensely uphill battle. Stopping poachers is all fine and dandy but as long as someone is willing to pay … well, you get the picture.

This complex plot highlights the despicable side of humanity. As an animal lover, I’m incredibly saddened every time I hear of yet another species being added to the list of extinctions. It’s such a sad state of affairs that greed constantly triumphs over animal welfare.

Dead of Night is a fast-paced and tense thriller with all the ingredients that make this team stand out from the crowd, from the setting to the characters to the topic that makes you think and that gets under your skin. I can quite easily see this becoming a series as well, with Crys at the helm. She’s a likeable character and as a journalist, there are undoubtedly many more other hard-hitting topics she could investigate.

Dead of Night is available to buy!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Bookdepository | Kobo | Wordery | Goodreads

Michael Stanley is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Both were born in South Africa and have worked in academia and business.

On a flying trip to Botswana, they watched a pack of hyenas hunt, kill, and devour a wildebeest, eating both flesh and bones. That gave them the premise for their first mystery, A Carrion Death, which introduced Detective ‘Kubu’ Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. It was a finalist for five awards, including the CWA Debut Dagger. The series has been critically acclaimed, and their third book, Death of the Mantis, won the Barry Award and was a finalist for an Edgar award. Deadly Harvest was a finalist for an International Thriller Writers’ award.

Dead of Night is their first stand-alone thriller.