The Giant Raft by Jules Verne

In the steaming heart of the Upper Amazon, a cryptogram and a hard-eyed adventurer set Jules Verne's The Giant Raft in motion. Torres, a "captain of the woods" with a shady past, lives by hunting fugitive slaves and by seizing any chance for profit, and when he deciphers a document that seems to promise leverage over a wealthy man, greed quickly turns to thoughts of blackmail and betrayal. But the secret he values most is snatched away by a guariba monkey, launching a frantic chase through the forest that ends only when hunters intervene and two young Brazilians enter the scene. From there, the story widens onto the jangada carrying the Garral family downriver toward Manaos and Belem, where suspicion shadows every mile. Manoel and Benito watch Torres closely as he takes an unsettling interest in Joam Garral, while the voyage unfolds amid rivers, plantations, and caoutchouc workers. Danger erupts again when three huge alligators board the raft, forcing a desperate rescue in which Fragoso saves Minha by stabbing the beast, and Torres unexpectedly helps save Joam. As the journey continues, gratitude mixes with distrust, romance and marriage talk brighten the mood, and the mystery of Torres's true motive remains a tense undercurrent. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.