The Rebel Son

the rebel son is a story of love and vengeance, of violence and kindness, and of history and future stretching from america to africa, and through it all, jake fallon loses the man he once was – a man who cared little for anyone but himself – and becomes the friend, the husband, and the father he was meant to be.
ex vietnam vets jake fallon and brian wilson hail from wealthy philadelphia families. in the summer of 1978 they go on a hunting trip into rhodesia, a country locked in a bloody liberation war. after a fishing trip on lake kariba, they catch a commercial flight to salisbury. on the ascent out of the airport, the plane is shot down by terrorists. a number passengers escape and make it back to kariba airport; others are slaughtered by zipra guerillas. jake is injured, but with the help of sarah, an african girl from the doomed aircraft, they escape and hide in the bush. brian is tortured and strung up to a tree to witness the rape of another female passenger. jake and sarah make it to the lake and with the help of an old african, steal a boat. jake gets shot defending the african and his family and loses his memory. sarah takes control of the boat and escapes with jake across the lake and illegally enters zambia. with no identification and the help of a mission doctor and a priest, they hid out while trying to find out about jake's background. jake makes sarah pregnant and learns about her orphaned past and that she has a living father.
the news story about the downed airliner in featured by david brinkley on the nightly nbc news and the fallon family try to find out about the two young men. brain’s body is found and returned to philadelphia, while jake is feared dead. after nine months of trying to seek help, bill, jake’s brother places jake’s picture in the rhodesia herald and the hunt is on for him by authorities and terrorists alike.
jake forces the priest to marry him and sarah. sarah gives birth, but the baby is stillborn. with known and unknown help and several altercations with terrorists, they escape across the lake to rhodesia.
jake sends his new wife sarah back to the united states and into the arms of his semi-bigoted mother and older brother. he continues to fight with the (rsf) rhodesian security forces to find the terrorists who murdered his friend. sarah tries to adjust to the united states, feeling jake has abandoned her. she is befriended by bill, who falls in love with her and transforms her from an african girl to a sophisticated woman.
jake takes intense brutal action and avenges the death of brian and then legally enters zambia seeking out the truth about his wife. he learns that their child was not stillborn and is in the custody of a wealthy cattle rancher samuel cameron. cameron is sarah’s father and jake finds out that sarah has a half-sister rebecca. jake cons his way into the cameron’s life to find his child. rebecca is infatuated with jake and eventually assists him. they devise a plan to take the baby and make a run.
in the closing scenes at the fallon villa in the bahamas, jake has to overcome the fear that sarah may not want him back and what will become of his brother. sarah has to deal with jake’s return, the shock of an unknown sister and the added revelation she has a living child.