As the author of The World's Most Dangerous Places, Robert Young Pelton has come to know some of the most unusual and dangerous individuals in the world. In The Hunter, the Hammer, and Heaven he introduces an extraordinary cast of characters from three of the most war-ravaged countries on earth - the West African country of Sierra Leone, the breakaway republic of Chechnya, and a mysterious land in the South Pacific called Bougainville, In each location he provides a firsthand exploration of important new developments in conflict, and a unique insight into the forces that are shaping the world's future. In the Hunter, Pelton journeys into the postapocalyptic darkness of Sierra Leone - a small, shattered country emerging from a decade of cruel and nihilistic warfare. As he wanders through the world's most expensive peace-keeping mission, he meets an ex-mercenary who hunts pirates, a ragtag militia whose members believe they have supernatural powers, and white men with "diamond fever." In the Hammer, Pelton enters the jihad in Chechnya with three traveling companions - an American mujahid who wants to die, a young woman entering her first war as a journalist, and a grumpy cameraman. Pelton brings his motley crew along the secret muj trail from America to Georgia to meet the Chechen rebels as the Russian Army sends in a massive army of 150,000 soldiers to subdue the anarchistic republic in their own "War on Terror." His odyssey through terrorist-filled bunkers, suicide squad-manned front lines, SCUD missile attacks, and terrified citizens leads to a desperate escape from the beleaguered city of Grozny. In Heaven, Pelton chronicles his two-year odyssey to meet one of the most elusive rebelleaders in the world - an enigmatic man named Francis Ona who has survived numerous assassination attempts and who threatens to kill any white man who sets foot on his tiny island in the South Pacific. In the course of his travels Pelton meets a cast of colorful and sometimes hilarious characters, from a drunken guide who offers his niece to visitors, to accountants who offer complete armies to desperate governments. As Pelton makes his way to the misty island of Bougainville and closer to Francis Ona, he discovers that the mysterious leader is convinced that Pelton is coming to kill him. Filled with tension and intrigue, The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven offers a dramatic vision of war and the people who survive it.


Robert Young Pelton's extraordinary journeys have taken him to meet interesting and elusive people in the world's most dangerous places. For the first time, Pelton documents three of his epic journeys to meet these enigmatic and terrifying characters in "The Hunter, The Hammer, and Heaven."

In "The Holy Land, " he recounts his trek to the jungle island of Bougainville to seek the world's most elusive eco-rebel: a mysterious man who has refused to see any outsiders for two years while informers try to convince the reclusive rebel leader that Pelton is an assassin. In "Under the Hammer" he tells of how he eludes kidnappers, the mafyia, and Russian gunships to arrive at the beleaguered Chechen capital of Grozny, where he survives a SCUD missile bombardment and learns that 100,000 Russian troops have surrounded the city. Pelton searches for meaning in Sierra Leone, where stoned kids with AK-47s rule roadblocks decorated by human skulls and rotting skeletons. There he falls in with government-sponsored "pirate hunters."

Each gripping story is filled with outlandish characters and written with the savvy humor, palpable descriptions, and intimate observations for which Pelton is known. This book will be eagerly anticipated by the millions who have come to relish his exciting stories, dark humor, and what MSNBC called "a poet's vision of dangerous places."