The President’s Safari

The President’s Safari combines the story of a historic hunting expedition led by President Theodore Roosevelt and a fictional tale of an attempt to place a beautiful spy in its midst. Theodore Roosevelt journeyed to Africa just days after he left the White House after serving nearly two full terms as the president. His 11-month safari collected more than 10,000 specimens for American museums. That tally included about 500 big game animals ranging from grazing springbok to charging elephants. Along with the historic characters of Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt, the story adds Aaron Wilson. Wilson is a young clerk assigned to keep track of the ammunition and supplies of the safari. Although Wilson doesn’t feel himself an equal to the principles of the hunt, he ultimately plays a major part in a life and death struggle.Katja Engels joins a secret German spy agency as a way to escape a difficult life in her home country. She soon learns that becoming a spy leaves her with little or no control of her own life. The novel combines the hunting tales associated with Africa in the early 1900s including man-eating lions and trophies of dozens of other species. Habitat and game animals were plentiful and hunting was considered a noble pursuit.The other part of the story is the fictional efforts of a secret German agency to place the beautiful Katja in the midst of the safari with the hope she will become the mistress of a former president.The novel remains true to the honor and gentlemanly conduct of Theodore Roosevelt although his efforts as a hunter are described in some detail.The espionage portion of the story includes human violence and sexual situations making the novel not suitable for younger readers.

Keith Norman works as a staff reporter for a small daily paper in North Dakota while pursuing his interest in writing historic fiction. While he has worked as a reporter for the past nine years, his background includes medical clinic management, computer programing and hosting a radio talk show. A life-long resident of the Dakotas, Keith currently resides in Jamestown, N.D. with a menagerie of dogs, cats and horses.