RARE EARTH BY DAVIS BUNN

RARE EARTH BY DAVIS BUNN is another Marc Royce adventure. This time he is sent to Kenya by Ambassador Walton to investigate suspected underhand activities at Lodestone, a company with its headquarters in the States, whose operatives supply food, tents, etc, as well as security, in the drought-stricken and war torn country.  He goes in undercover as a former accountant and is put in charge of getting supplies to the refugee camps. An Israeli aid worker, Serge Korban, has been kidnapped and he is also looking for him.
In the camp he meets Serge's sister Kitra, who works in the camp clinic. She dislikes him to start with, as she holds Lodestone responsible for her brother's disappearance, but when she sees his compassion for the poverty-stricken refugees, she comes to trust him.  Marc feels that he may at last be ready to move on, as it is over four years since his wife died.  He and Kitra have feelings for one another, but Kitra's life is complicated and he doesn't know if he can give up his life to become part of hers.
We see Marc's respect for both the elders at the camp and also for those that he meets in the slums of Nairobi. They have been let down badly by white men in the past who are trying to take over their land, but they trust Marc, especially when Philip, a young chief who is a believer in Christ, says he is sure that Marc is the deliverer he has seen in his dreams. They like his humility and commitment to help. 
He doesn't hurry them in their deliberations and he allows them all the time they need to make decisions.
Marc has to use all the skills learned in the military and during his time in the C.I.A. in the dangerous situation in which he and his allies find themselves.   
Marc goes to Israel at Kitra's insistance and  stays with her parents in a Kibbutz in the Judean desert.  In this desolate place they extract elements from rare earth which are used to manufacture components for  mobile phones and nuclear reactors, to name but a few. Now he understands why the villages are being evacuated - they are going to be taken over by the Chinese, aided by rogue African mercenaries. The Chinese already have the monopoly in the industry and can thus charge exhorbitant prices. This is the secret that Serge discovered and which led to his abduction.
Marc and Crowden, and those who are with them, have full permission from as far up as the White House to do what is necessary to stop the Chinese from appropriating the villagers' land, so as to counteract their monopoly.
Serge and Kitra have come to Kenya to search out the rare earth in order to have a supply for their kibbutz. They have come to "heal the land", as their way of extracting the substances from the earth is not harmful like that of the Chinese. In fact there are people that are being treated by Red Cross doctors for  unknown diseases which are directly caused by the extraction factory. They do not want to take away anything from the Africans, but they want to work together for the mutual good of both countries.
God has brought about an amazing miracle in Kenya where people from warring tribes have come to faith in Christ and are now living as brothers. Marc, as a believer himself, relates well to them, and also to Kitra's parents and the occupants of the Kibbutz who are Jewish believers in Christ the Messiah.
Philip, his uncle Oyango, and the other elders see Marc's involvement in their plight as a miracle as well.  They are so glad he has come to help them in a situation where they feel absolutely hopeless and helpless.
Davis Bunn has a good grasp of the culture and lifestyle of the African continent. The story is convincing and one can feel the dryness of the landscape, the brooding of the volcano and the fog caused by the ash. This fog serves its purpose when the villains at the extraction plant are overpowered by Marc and his men, who seem to be far more in number and whose blowing of the "vuvuselas" make one think of the destruction of Jericho when the Israelites blew the trumpets!
The story is exciting, the characters are well portrayed and there is a strong Christian message.





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