Cast of Characters
The Chasing Shadows Series
Book Five
Claws of the Wildcat
In the concluding part of the Chasing Shadows Series, find a little more about each character below:
Harry Turner
Operational Officer, SIS
After Turner's promising café racing dream was bought crashing to an end, he is given the chance to avoid going to prison by working for Iris Harrington for an off-the-books assignment in southern Africa. Having developed a love of the dark continent during National Service, Turner quickly finds he is torn between multiple worlds as the official narrative of the situation in post-colonial Africa does not appear to fit the reality of events on the ground.
Iris Harrington
Section Chief, SIS
With responsibility for India and the Far East, Harrington has no business interfering in events elsewhere. Nevertheless, with national security always sharply in her focus, the stability of sub-Saharan Africa does not appear to be as assured as many would have hoped. With the burgeoning influence of Communist factions in the region, her worry is that the scramble to leave Africa might open up a far greater vulnerability to Britain's international interests.
Nhiriri Makwanya
Medical Student
Studying to be a doctor in the Southern Rhodesian capital of Salisbury, Nhiriri dreams of a free country where genuine equality for all is a reality. As the political situation between Salisbury and London seems increasingly intractable, something dramatic must be done to bring about real democratic change.
Robert Vaughan-Davies
Chief Inspector, British South Africa Police, Special Branch
Born in Southern Rhodesia to English parents, Vaughan-Davies feels as African as Victoria Falls. Nevertheless, as senior Special Branch liaison, he is at great pains to study and understand the true nature of what it means to be an African in a British colony. If there is anything Vaughan-Davies and his officers need to do to serve, protect and police the peoples of Southern Rhodesia, regardless of race or social status, he sees it as his personal mission to do so.
Secondary Characters: Book Five
Mathew Chigombe
Party Secretary, ZAPU
Trade unionist and advocate for majority rule, Chigombe sees it as his spiritual duty as an African to stand up for the rights of his people. An independent nation must be governed by the majority population and it is his mission to see this happens, by whatever means necessary.
Barbara 'Babs' Vaughan-Davies
Sales Assistant, Greatermans
Working in one of Southern Rhodesia's most prestigious department stores allows Babs to rub shoulders with the elite of Salisbury's society. Her calm, peaceful life seems a world away from the forebodings of doom broadcast in the media should Southern Rhodesia ever dare to declare independence.
Johnnie Wilson
Racing Driver
Wilson represents the new generation of charismatic young talent beginning to break through into the dangerous world of motorsport. Securing a seat with a top team takes him on the road to Le Mans, yet a shadow from his past might just scupper any chance of victory.
Françoise Garnier
Fashion Model
Drawn by the exotic locations, Françoise finds the thrills and spills of motor racing surprisingly intoxicating. When not posing in front of the camera, she revels in the chance to follow Wilson to circuits in every corner of the globe, seeking that all important immortality that comes with outright victory.
Freya Cameron
Engineering Student
Quenching her thirst for knowledge, Freya's studies at Edinburgh University have opened her eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. Sadly, society at large doesn't seem to appreciate that her contribution to engineering is just as valid as her white male peers.
Cpt. Warwick Arundel
"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) SAS
Commander of Mobility Troop in Aden, Arundel is in a unique position to procure weapons from supply planes flying in to reinforce the British Crown Colony. This could be useful should the Rhodesian government decide to declare its independence from Britain.
David Makwanya
Politician, Central Africa Party
Owner of one of the most lucrative steel mills in Southern Rhodesia, Makwanya is one of the wealthiest men in the country. Nevertheless, his strong feelings for greater political franchise for his black countrymen motivates him to stand against the establishment in parliamentary elections.
Ealasaid Ellis
Sheep Farmer
Ealasaid first met Cameron when he was despatched to the far north coast of Scotland to investigate a series of strange lights sighted on Faraid Head. Something about him intrigued her and she hasn't been able to get the seasoned detective out of her mind ever since.
2Lt. Harrison Clarke
1Bn. Rhodesian Light Infantry
Formed as a light infantry unit within the army of the Central African Federation, the RLI is the territory's pre-eminent counter-insurgency force. Should the relative stability of the region be adversely affected in any way, it is likely that Clarke will find himself at the forefront of any resulting contact.
Christina 'Chrissy' Clarke
Dept. Manager, Greatermans
Established in 1931, the Greatermans chain of department stores has long stood alongside Old Mutual and Meikles as an institution of renown. Managing the domestic furnishings department is perfect for Chrissy's innate sense of style and discerning palette.
Joe Napier
Broker, Imperial Tobacco Co.
Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Napier has a keen head for figures and makes shrewd business decisions to deliver the best possible returns for his company's product. Married to a woman of Māori descent, Napier has witnessed his fair share of discrimination and doesn't want the cycle of distrust and ostracism to continue in perpetuity
Margaret 'Maggie' Napier
Junior School Teacher
Appalled and embarrassed by a hostile reaction to her presence in the queue of a shop in Australia, Maggie's knight in shining armour took his half-Māori wife to Africa to start a new life in a land with promising opportunities for all. Though interracial utopia hasn't yet fully materialised, her work as a junior school teacher is still a most rewarding experience.
Gabriel Sibanda
Medical Student
When Gabriel's sister returned from overseas as a fully qualified nurse, Gabriel immediately enrolled in the new Medical School at the University College of Rhodesia & Nyasaland. Struggling with his family's strong political views, Gabriel feels torn between the life he knows now and the brighter future promised for people like him by majority rule.
Jabula Sibanda
Nurse
To her dismay, after returning home to work as a nurse at the General Hospital in Bulawayo, Jabula finds the racial discrimination among her patients and co-workers little different to Britain where she received her training. In her home country though, her people have always significantly outnumbered the white settler community. Surely that must count for something.
Gerald Archer
Station Chief, CIA
Embedded within the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square, London is a busy posting for Archer. Good relations with his counterparts in Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service are put to the test though when an American Senator appears to have been liaising with more than just the British Government.
Edward Heathcote
CIA Liaison, SIS
Recalled from Moscow where he had been the resident spy attached to the British Embassy, Heathcote resents the appointment of Harrington as Section Chief. With the fallout from the recent defection of Kim Philby still being felt, within the Service, Heathcote hopes a new role might enable him to outshine his operational adversary.