Hannibal's Elephant Girl: Book One

Eleven years before Hannibal marched his army and war elephants over the Alps to attack Rome, a dying girl was thrown into a river and left to drown.

Liada was captured by slave traders and, along with a wagonload of other girls and women, was being hauled across North Africa toward the slave markets at Carthage.

When she falls violently ill with fever and convulsions, the slave traders fear she will infect the other captives.
Their solution is simple.

They throw her into the Bagradas River and once rid of her, they continue on toward the slave markets.
But Liada does not drown in the turbulent river.

Below a series of rapids, an enormous war elephant wades into the water and lifts her to safety with his powerful trunk.
The elephant is Obolus — the largest and most feared war elephant in Hannibal’s army.

What begins as an act of rescue becomes an extraordinary bond. Liada soon discovers she is the only person who can calm the giant animal — the only one who can guide him.

As Hannibal prepares for war with Rome, Liada’s fate becomes tied to the destiny of Carthage itself.

From slave caravan to war camp, from the rivers of North Africa to the harbors of the Mediterranean, Hannibal’s Elephant Girl is the unforgettable story of a young girl, a legendary war elephant, and the journey that will one day lead them toward Hannibal’s greatest campaign