King Of Kings

The Courtneys and the Ballantynes meet again in the follow-up to Wilbur Smith's Triumph of the Sun.

Cairo, 1888. On a beautiful September morning, Penrod Ballantyne and his fiancé, Amber Benbrook, stroll hand in hand. There is not a cloud in the sky, and all is right in the world. But when Penrod's old flame Lady Agatha plants seeds of discontent in Amber's head, she leaves him and travels to the wilds of Abyssinia with her twin sister, Saffron, and her husband, the trader and adventurer, Ryder Courtney. On a mission to establish a silver mine, and seeking to strengthen negotiations and support for their enterprise, they make the dangerous journey to the new capital of Addis Ababa, where they are welcomed by Menekik, the King of Kings. But with Abyssinia declared a protectorate by the Italians, and rumours of a plan to invade, trouble is brewing...

Back in Cairo, a heartbroken Penrod's life is spiralling out of control as he seeks oblivion in the city's opium dens. Disgraced and at an all time low, help arrives in the form of his old school friend, the Italian Lorenzo De Fonseca who asks Penrod to take advantage of his connections in the Italian military high command to assess the situation around the Abyssinian border. With storm clouds brew ing, and on opposing sides of the invasion, can the lovers find their way back to one another - against all the odds?

King Of Kings is an epic story of love, betrayal, courage and war that brings together two of Wilbur Smith's greatest families.