The Seagull and the Sheikh

By Diane Van der Westhuizen

A mother (Caroline) and son (David) hear the mournful call of a badly wounded seagull on a beach in Dubai. Unable to leave the bird to die alone, they decide to take him home in the hope that they can nurse him back to health. The die is cast when David names the bird Nelson and forges a strong bond with the sick bird. But their simple rescue plan is a dangerous one. Keeping an animal in their apartment block is strictly forbidden and Carol’s husband, Mario, finds himself and their family under threat. Mario’s boss wants him thrown out of Dubai as Mario has stopped work on a building site as a result of poor wiring. It transpires that Mario’s boss is receiving kickbacks on the dodgy wiring and, as a result of Mario’s interference, his corrupt practices are in danger of being exposed. Mario’s boss calls in an oily private detective (who suffers from a bad case of OCD) from South Africa to spy on the family to uncover their illegal ‘guest’. But the family are not alone in their determination to save the seagull and their way of life in Dubai. A string of weird and wonderful characters traipse through their lives to either help or hinder their efforts, not least of which, the royal family (matters become complicated when David’s friend, Rafiq, impersonates the sheikh’s young son). Lies, deceit and corruption are revealed when they are all called to the royal palace to confront the sheikh himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diane Van der Westhuizen
• Release date: Apr 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310252099

Diane Van der Westhuizen

Di van der Westhuizen is a South African-born author who took a quantum leap of faith and left office life to follow her passion: writing. She has drawn on her love of fantasy, humour and the perseverance of the human spirit to weave the story in this, her first book, Wild Avengers. But, more than anything else, it was her concern for the way we treat animals who cannot speak for themselves that was the driving force behind this book. A quotation from this book says it all: "Morbidius Ultimatum understands that damage is done one butterfly at a time, book one tree at a time, one bullet at a time". She has subsequently had articles published in South Africa's most widely-read family magazine as well as a self-published compilation of short stories, viz. Chilli Bites.