Three Hunters

Set in modern-day Kenya, this taut, intelligent novel features an estranged family of renowned hunting guides. Following the ban on big-game hunting, Chili Cavenaugh, a legendary, American-born hunter, lives on memories; his 40-year-old son Lucien opens a safari outfitting store; Lucien's older brother Coke flies tourist planes. Their story is introduced when Lucien agrees to help an attractive American relief doctor transport medical supplies from Nairobi to a refugee camp in Northern Kenya. After a leopard kills a child in the camp, and returns to strike again, Lucien asks Coke and Chili to help him track and kill the animal. Harrison's prose is lean and spare, sustaining narrative tension. In chapters alternating between the hunt and flashbacks that illuminate a lifetime of conflicts among the hunters, Harrison ( Burton and Speke ) weaves a subtle, effective tale, his characters deeply etched and memorable. (June)