Papua

Two men, sworn enemies, come face to face on the battlefields of France.

When Jack Kelly, a captain in the Australian army, shows compassion towards his prisoner Paul Mann, a brave and high-ranking German officer, an unexpected bond is formed. But neither could imagine how their pasts and futures would become inextricably linked by one place: Papua.

The Great War is finally over and both soldiers return to their once familiar lives, only to find that in their absences events have changed their respective worlds forever. In Sydney Jack is suddenly alone with a son he does not know and a future filled with uncertainty, while the photograph of a beautiful German woman he has never met fills his thoughts.

Meanwhile the Germany that Paul had fought for is vanishing under the influence of an ambitious young man named Adolph Hitler, and he fears for the future of his family. A new beginning beckons them both in a beautiful but dangerous land where rivers of gold are as legendary as the fearless, cannibalistic tribes, and where fortunes can be made and lost as quickly as a life. Papua.

A compelling novel where love, loyalty and the strength of family must stand against greed and treachery in a tropical paradise.

Peter Watt has spent time as a soldier, articled clerk, prawn trawler deckhand, builder's labourer, pipe layer, real estate salesman, private investigator, police sergeant and police adviser in Papua New Guinea. He has lived and worked with Aborigines, Islanders, Vietnamese and Papua New Guineans and he speaks, reads and writes Vietnamese and Pidgin. Good friends, fine food, fishing and the vast open spaces of outback Queensland are his main interests in life. Peter lives in Finch Hatton in Queensland and is writing the sequel to Papua, due for release in 2004.