Facing the Charge

Softcover, 184 pages.
By Michael J. Miller

"They all pledge to be back. So I believe that you mean what you say. But the odds are that you'll never be back."

Less accurate words have seldom been uttered than those of professional hunter Lew Games to client Mike Miller on safari number one after Mike promised to come back as soon, and as often, as he could. Far from being the usual one-and-done safarist, Mike is now making plans for safari number sixty-four!

Mike's first sixty-three African safaris—including trips to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Cameroon—form the basis for Facing the Charge. A gifted storyteller, writer Scott Longman makes Mike's African stories come alive on these pages, describing in page-turning detail a tremendous range of experiences during which Mike and his colleagues faced charges from the Big Five—Cape buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino—as well as from man-eating crocodiles, slithering pythons, vengeful baboons, and a hormonal Chevy Tahoe end mama hippo who had Mike squarely in her front-view mirror.

In addition to adrenaline-fueled tales of big-game hunting, Facing the Charge details how death was a constant companion on safari in the form of terrorists, quicksand, malaria, and witchcraft, among other threats. It also analyzes how ivory traffickers have devastated the elephant population, examines the everyday hardships of life in Africa, and pays tribute to the men and women who have made Africa a second home for Mike.

In her foreword, Fiona Claire Capstick, widow of legendary professional hunter and author Peter Hathaway Capstick, captures the essence of Facing the Charge, calling it "the stuff of high drama and retrospective hilarity," while also noting that it showcases the "innate skills and knowledge of the African trackers, without whom no African hunting safari would be possible."

Facing the Charge will appeal to both seasoned African hunters and novices anticipating their first safari, as well as to anyone who enjoys adventure in exotic locations.