They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and with this in mind, the authors Daleen Engelbrecht (writing under the pseudonym Dana Crown) and Jan Hugo wrote the book Choppers.
It contains strong, emotive language and should it provoke an international outcry, so much the better. "A halt to the systematic annihilation of our rhinos is what we all want," said the authors.
During a chat at Daleen's gracious Fancourt home she said, "I have a gut feel that our book could become a bestseller. It is action-packed and the story line would be suitable for a film. It has all the elements including sexual undercurrents and a love story.
The hero, a daredevil helicopter pilot tangles with a nasty Vietnamese Mafia group, after infiltrating their netherworld. The gripping story centres around the unconventional investment banker Alex Hayes who gets recruited by a privately funded anti-poaching agency, the Honirs to halt the loathsome Mafia activities."
The book is entirely fictional, it is merely incidental that our local authors also happen to be (retired) bankers. Like Alex, Jan is a seasoned helicopter pilot with interesting assignments behind his belt. But that is where the resemblance ends.
The idea to write an intriguing story line of dangerous exploits in which the hero takes on the Vietnamese Mafia was born after Jan expressed the desire to record his helicopter flying days, which included some unusual assignments such as transporting Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond and members of their filming crew.
Daleen, who has written a historical romance and is thorough in doing research, spent months pouring over newspaper reports and the Internet to establish the chilling facts. She wrote the love scenes while Jan concentrated on what he knows best - writing the action scenes which sees the hero Alex Hayes, seemingly in the employment of the criminals. After plotting the main storyline, each went home to write their individual sections. Joining and meshing their individually written sections proved to be easier than they thought and having an overseeing editor was invaluable.
"We are looking for a publisher, but would consider going the self-publishing route. After all, when E L James wrote the erotic best seller Fifty shades of Grey she was first pu-blished on the Internet.
"The poachers are involved in trading with cocaine, prostitution and use silencers on their rifles to shoot the rhinos and even use helicopters to knock-off their targets. It is because our system is so corrupt that we don't seem to make inroads in combating this crime. The poaching network is like a giant octopus which has its tentacles into our communities who are impoverished and easily bribed. This cruelty is horrible and over 600 rhinos were killed last year alone. We would be willing to donate part of the royalties of the book to combating these illegal activities."
Daleen and her husband Schalk, the Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of AE & CI, are both passionate about photography and spend weeks in nature reserves recording wildlife. Jan enjoys mountain-biking and golf in his spare time.
The British Top Gear presenters, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond and members of his filming crew were flown around by Jan Hugo.
