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 Pre 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