The Most Dangerous Game:
Richard Connell, Aberdeen Press
Paperback
(Independently published, Aug. 5, 2020)
In 1932, a luxury yacht is sailing through a channel off the western coast of South America. Among the passengers is big game hunter and author Bob Rainsford. In discussing the sport with other passengers, Bob is asked if he would exchange places with the animals he hunts. After the yacht's owner disregards the captain's concerns about the channel lights not matching the charts, the ship runs aground, takes on water and explodes. Ultimately, Bob is the lone survivor, swimming to a small island. He sees the channel lights off the shoreline change, and suspects the ship was deliberately led off course to its doom. Bob stumbles across a chateau where he becomes the guest of the expatriate Russian Count Zaroff, a fellow hunting enthusiast, who is familiar with Bob and his writings.