Tenth Man Down by Chris Ryan
When an SAS team is sent to train government troops in Kamanga, a poverty-stricken and war-torn republic in the dark heart of southern Africa, Geordie Sharp is caught up in the most dangerous and difficult assignment of his career. At the outset of the mission a juju, or witch doctor, predicts that ten whites are going to die, and as the prediction starts to come true one by one down they go. In the south of Kamanga rebel forces have seized the diamond mines which produce the bulk of the country's wealth. The aim of the crack government unit is to recover these lucrative assets, with Geordie Sharp and his squad providing much-needed back-up. When the SAS men see that the rebels are boosted by ex-US Navy SEALs mercenaries, they begin to sense a hidden agenda. Before they can discover what it is, Sharp and two others fall into rebel hands. His comrade Whinger dies a hideous death, but Sharp manages to escape. At last Sharp stumbles onto the secret which is drawing such strong international interest - only to realise that he himself may have been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation in the process. Is he the tenth and last of the juju's victims?