Headhunt

by Jill Stuart

Why has Patrick Birch not been seen or heard of since he left England five years ago for South East Asia on a business trip?This is a question to which his daughter, Kate, is determined to find the answer.Kate decides she must journey to South East Asia and attempt to find her father for she is convinced he is still alive. The vast deep jungles of Borneo can be hostile, but Patrick Birch is no complete stranger to the region, for this is where he spent his early years.The search begins in Kuching, the capital town of Sarawak, home of the "White Rajahs," where Kate contacts and meets several of her father's business associates, amongst whom is an intriguing Sarawakian Chinese business mogul who suggests, through the deviousness of his conversation, that mystery surrounds her ancestors.Kate sets out into the rainforest with her small band of guides who are an interesting bunch of local characters, including a retired Scottish doctor who has practised tropical medicine in Sarawak for more than fifty years and is a fascinating raconteur.Kate soon realises that the rainforest is as terrifying as it is magnificent, and not all as the tourist brochures describe, for many dangers are encountered.En-route she discovers her adoptive grandmother. She also meets the love of her life. They become caught up in the whirl of the Gawai celebrations in an Iban longhouse where gruesome shrunken skulls are displayed proudly; souvenirs of their headhunting past.In this world of jungle dwellers; where paganism runs in tandem with Christianity, several mysteries are solved, including the fate of Kate's father, the discovery of whom leads to the greatest surprise of the wholeadventure.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007