River of Death

River of Death is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1981. As with most of MacLean's novels, it depicts adventure, treachery, and murder in an unforgiving environment, but is set this time in the steamy jungles of South America instead of above the Arctic Circle.

Plot introduction

Hamilton, allegedly an expert on the jungle, shows up in Brazil having apparently found a lost Indian civilization in the wilderness of the Amazon jungle. This attracts the attention of Smith, a wealthy German who appeared out of nowhere in the late 1940s with a fortune and group of ruthless cronies. Smith hires Hamilton to take him to see the lost city. Hamilton with his two trusty companions, together with Smith and his entourage set off, facing giant anacondas, giant spiders, cannibalistic natives, and so on, discovering a settlement of Nazi war criminals and their descendents, living as if the Third Reich had never ended.

Film adaptation

River of Death was made into a movie in 1989, directed by Steve Carver, and starring Michael Dudikoff, Robert Vaughn, and Donald Pleasence.