Synopsis
Riko is the son of an American father and Russian mother who settled in apartheid South Africa. Blind to apartheid racial prejudices, he falls in love with Nomvula from childhood. Caught out in this forbidden relationship as a pre-1990s army careerist, following in the footsteps of his father, Riko is arrested by military police and faces severe consequences. Escape is the only solution, and his father’s US army contacts are only too keen to assist and he finds himself joining the US Special Forces. Given his cosmopolitan parentage and linguistic endowments, he is immediately deployed as an American-USSR “cold war” double agent. Charged with top secret knowledge of both sides’ nuclear weapons systems, he is like a walking timebomb himself. Initially thrust apart by apartheid racial policies, the fall of apartheid enables their reunification. As this comes tantalizingly close, an unexpected, ghoulish figure from Riko’s past rises to thwart their fulfilment, where Nomvula is abducted and Riko is challenged to travel across the world to a rendezvous where he must trade his knowledge for her freedom. This is the ultimate test of their love, where his perfect love may require that he pay the ultimate price; and betrayal, he will discover, is all-too easy.
About the Author
Federico Luciano Favini was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 2 December 1976, and grew up in Percelia Estate. He is the son of Italian immigrants Luciano and Renata Favini, and the youngest of his five siblings (Maria, Sabrina, Patrizia, Umberto, and Felicity). Studying a mix of arts, language and creative writing, mathematics, and science, Federico went on to focus on computer science, for which he earned his Bachelors degree. As a polyglot his passion for languages drew him to France, emigrating there in 1999, specifically to further his study of the French language. It is there that his passion for writing was ignited. In 2000, on the slopes of Risoul in the French Alps, he met his wife and lifelong partner, Aurelia Palmisano. After a decade of travelling, he now lives in Hong Kong with Aurelia, daughter Luna, and son Alessio, where he continues his career in the technology sector.
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