In the first novel in Marlon James' Dark Star trilogy, African myth, fantasy and history come together in the story of a band of mercenaries hired to find a missing child. Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged by a mysterious slave trader to track down a boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to find the boy. The band is a hodge-podge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. As Tracker follows the boy's scent--from one ancient city to the next, through dense forests and across deep rivers--the band is set upon by creatures intent on destroying Tracker and his cohorts. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important question of all: who is telling the truth and who is lying?