Nemarluk, one of the most feared Aboriginal renegades in the north of Australia, had vowed to rid his land of all intruders. This is the story of the last three years of his life, and his extraordinary battle with the tracker, Bul-Bul, brought in by the Northern Territory police in a final desperate attempt to put an end to Nemarluk's fight.

Ion L. Idriess had already brought Lasseter and Flynn to the public's attention with his action-packed stories. He had first-hand knowledge of the courage of Nemarluk and wanted to immortalise the man he called the King of the Wilds.

'Jack [Idriess] understood the depth of Nemarluk's hatred for the Japanese and the white intruders who had come, unasked, into his people's tribal lands of which he was chief. It was not only Nemarluk's desire to protect his people and their lands from the invaders, it was also his obligation and duty.' - Beverley Eley, biographer of Ion L. [Jack] Idriess