* THE FIFTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING MODESTY BLAISE SERIES * 'The finest escapist thrillers ever written' THE TIMES 'Before Buffy, before Charlie's Angels, before Purdy and Emma Peel, there was Modesty Blaise' OBSERVER Mischa Novikov had never even considered defecting from Russia until one day when his analysis of a satellite picture of central Africa revealed an almost inaccessible valley containing untold riches, and he is the only man on earth who knows about them. Eight months later Novikov dies in a small hospital not far from his hidden treasure, a victim of torture. When Modesty Blaise intervenes to prevent Novikov's doctor - Dr. Pennyfeather - from being tortured to reveal Novikov's secrets, she herself is taken prisoner. It will take all her cunning, and that of Willie Garvin, her loyal lieutenant, to escape the clutches of a vicious criminal and his dangerous exotic pets.