The Hermit Hunter of the Wilds
1889
Tommy Talisker is a quiet Scottish boy with a sailor’s heart, listening by firelight as his uncle Robert spins tales of distant continents. When Captain Herbert’s son vanishes somewhere in the trackless wilds of South America, Tommy seizes his chance for real adventure. Armed with his uncle’s stories and a black cat who seems to possess something like magic, he launches into unmapped jungles crawling with hostile tribes, bloodthirsty buccaneers, and secrets that could kill him. The action builds from a rescue mission into something far stranger: buried treasure, impossible obstacles, and a mystery that will test everything Tommy believes about courage and loyalty. Stables delivers the breathless pacing and improbable reversals that made Victorian adventure novels irresistible, with enough peril and mystery to keep readers turning pages past midnight.
