Danny Archer

Grew Up… in the region formerly known as Rhodesia in southern Africa. Danny’s parents were murdered when he was nine – his mother raped and shot, and his father was decapitated and left hanging from a hook in the barn. With no one to look out for him, Danny had to learn how to survive in a harsh, violent world. 

Living… in Sierra Leone, but Danny Archer will go anywhere he can find diamonds. He’s determined to strike it rich as a self-proclaimed “soldier of fortune.” Once he has enough money he dreams of leaving Africa, a continent that Danny says, “God left a long time ago.” 

Profession… smuggler. Danny mostly runs guns and diamonds, but will take any kind of cargo if he thinks there’s good money in it.

Relationship Status… single. Danny doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. A roving hustler who risks his life on a daily basis, it seems unlikely that he could build a stable relationship. Still, despite his insistence that love isn’t for him, he finds himself drawn to the attractive American journalist Maddy Bowen.

Challenge… making enough money to escape “this godforsaken continent.” When escaped diamond miner Solomon Vandy tells Danny Archer that he knows the location of a massive, pink diamond, Danny thinks he may have finally found his ticket out of Africa. After convincing Solomon that he will help him find his son in exchange for the diamond, Danny sets out with his new partner on a quest for one of the world’s most valuable gems – a prize that offers Danny an entirely new life, if he can survive long enough to claim it.

Personality… determined and tough, Danny likes to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself, preferring to focus on business. Still, despite his best attempts to appear merciless and cold, he can’t shake the fact that he is, at his heart, a kind person. A product of his environment, Danny’s greed and scheming are simply a result of his desperation to escape the constant strife that has followed him for his entire life.