Levkas Man

Levkas Man is a thriller novel by British author Hammond Innes published in 1971. It tells the story of a doctor who goes to the Greek island of Lefkada (Levkas) with his adopted son to prove a theory about prehistoric man.

Plot
The story takes place against the background of the early 1970’s, with the Cold War at its peak and the Middle East smouldering with political conflict, and is told by the protagonist, Paul van der Voort. He is a 28 year-old sailor and is just back from a long journey, when he gets involved in a fight at the port area of Amsterdam. He needs to flee after assaulting a man and goes back to his childhood home in the city of Amsterdam. His childhood has not been a happy one and the relationship between father and son was full of strain, arguments, abuse and conflict. His father is a famous archaeologist, Dr Pieter van der Voort, who is trying to prove his theory that the pre-historic origins of modern man in Europe, lie in Greece.

Paul finds the house empty, except for his father’s housekeeper and secretary, Sonia. Also he is visited by two of his father’s fellow archaeologists. He learns that his father has gone on an expedition to Greece but things aren’t going too great.

A few days later Paul gets himself involved with an international smuggler, who sends him to Malta, to pick up antique artifacts and take them to Greece and Turkey. Paul decides to take the assignment, as it is an opportunity to go and search for his father. Paul gets his own charter boat with a crew that consists of a husband and wife. When he goes to pick up the merchandise, he is confronted by police who think his father is a communist spy, because his expedition is paid for by the Soviet Union. During his sailing the Aegean Sea, he finds out that one of his father’s fellow archaeologists is actually his rival and wants to take all the credits for his discovery. He also learns that his father has gone missing from the digging site and according to his assistants he has gone missing after attacking another person.

By chance, Paul gets to meet his father briefly, but the police are after him so Paul is forced to lead them astray and his father escapes again. The Greek police and Paul are joined by Sonia, whose brother is part of the digging team and the other archaeologists and they go to one of the caves on the island of Levkas. It is here that Dr Van der Voort was last seen. It appears Dr Van der Voort has been obsessively digging to prove his theory and that he has been exhausting himself. But the doctor is nowhere to be seen. He is found to be trapped behind a rockfall, caused by a earth tremor.

In the final scene, the archaeologists start removing the fallen rocks and Paul makes an undersea dive and reaches a way into the cavern where his father is trapped. While father and son await their rescuers, they sit down to talk in the cavern, which is covered in stunning prehistoric paintings which prove Dr Van der Voorts theory: modern man migrated into Europe from Africa, not Asia. It also proves that prehistoric man was violent and that homo sapiens exterminated the older race of Neanderthals.

Dr Van der Voort discloses his personal view that modern day man is destroying the planet and that they are killing off each other at a terrible rate. When Paul is confronted by his father confessing to murdering his rival, he is shocked. His father sends him into gloom when he pronounces his conviction that Paul has taken over all of his violent traits. Paul used to think he was adopted, but it turns out the doctor is his real father. The doctor doesn't make it out of the cave alive.

In the end Paul burns his bridges and finds redemption. He leaves with Sonia, after restraining the Greek police officer who has been following him for smuggling. Sonia has shown interest in them becoming lovers but he doesn't confide in her. He steals the charter boat he got for the smuggling assignment and takes off to sea, heading south where he will find freedom.

Television adaptation
Levkas Man was adapted into a six-episode mini television series by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which aired from 18 March until 22 April 1981. It was a joint Australian–British–West German production, and was shot on location in Greece.

Cast

 * Robert Coleby - Paul Gerrard
 * Marius Goring - Dr. Pieter Gerrard
 * Ann Michelle - Nicola
 * T.P. McKenna - Holroyd
 * Kenneth Cope - Bert
 * Takis Emmanuel - Kotiades
 * Ferdy Mayne - Borg
 * Ray Barrett