African culture doesn't always esteem girls and women, as South African-born Sagal knows all too well. In the town of Alice however, life is at least stable and relatively safe. When Sagal and her family are forced to make the long trek north to her father's home in Somalia, little does she know the challenges and immense dangers they will face ? challenges that will certainly change her life forever.

In stark contrast to the stunning beauty of the continent, the family is unwittingly thrust into a scheme by Downs and Riley, a mining conglomerate, planning to singlehandedly hijack the nation of Somalia. Under the guise of finally bringing peace, democracy and prosperity to the war-ravaged nation, an unlikely group of men form a partnership to exploit Somalia's exceedingly rich deposits of uranium, placing them in a position of unprecedented power in the nuclear arena. Ruthless private security contractors, a wily economic hitman and corrupt aid charities all take their place on a stage set to economically enslave the nation, while they profit and expand their power. To add insult to asinine injury, the plan is to present Somalia as a model path to reaching the Millennium Development Goals before the United Nations.

In a uniquely African literary device, a parallel fable and metaphor unfolds as a distraught Jackal and Leopard try to dissuade the savannah's Lion pride from breaking the natural order of the biome, in storing and herding more game than they need, and trading to the highest bidder of other prides.

Down The Jackal's Lair is also a story of spiritual hope and perseverance in the face of abject poverty and extreme danger. In a world rife with corruption, it may only take one voice or one family bold enough to risk the ultimate sacrifice, to change the global landscape forever. Sagal meets the One who, alone, has the power to change her heart, and perform the miraculous through her.