"Drums of Dambala" by H. Bedford Jones. Harlequin 228 Paperback Original (1953). Uncredited Cover Art
During the period between 1949 and 1959, Harlequin published about 500 books, none of which were romance novels. Romance didn't come to Harlequin until the early 1960s. Before then they were a general fiction publisher covering every genre from westerns to science fiction.
From the back cover:
Drums of DAMBALA By H. BEDFORD JONES
As Paul O'Donnell stood by the rail of the ship that had brought him to Haiti, the tiny rowboat putting out from the shore was already carrying the first hints of the danger and tragedy lying in wait for him. Five minutes after landing he was enmeshed in a frightful web of political intrigue, fomented by voodoo fanaticism and unscrupulous ambition led by the hatred and ferocity of a beautiful and diabolical woman, and roused to bloody action by the throbbing, jungle rhythm of the drums of Dambala, the voodoo Snake-God. He, the white man, seeking a brother lost years ago in the revolution that had freed the Negroes, and Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black Napolean struggling to maintain his precarious hold on power, fight side by side against treachery, revolt, and massacre, in a story whose breathless action is set against a savage and enthralling background.
"Drums of Dambala" by H. Bedford Jones. Harlequin 228 Paperback Original (1953). Uncredited Cover Art
During the period between 1949 and 1959, Harlequin published about 500 books, none of which were romance novels. Romance didn't come to Harlequin until the early 1960s. Before then they were a general fiction publisher covering every genre from westerns to science fiction.
From the back cover:
Drums of DAMBALA By H. BEDFORD JONES
As Paul O'Donnell stood by the rail of the ship that had brought him to Haiti, the tiny rowboat putting out from the shore was already carrying the first hints of the danger and tragedy lying in wait for him. Five minutes after landing he was enmeshed in a frightful web of political intrigue, fomented by voodoo fanaticism and unscrupulous ambition led by the hatred and ferocity of a beautiful and diabolical woman, and roused to bloody action by the throbbing, jungle rhythm of the drums of Dambala, the voodoo Snake-God. He, the white man, seeking a brother lost years ago in the revolution that had freed the Negroes, and Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black Napolean struggling to maintain his precarious hold on power, fight side by side against treachery, revolt, and massacre, in a story whose breathless action is set against a savage and enthralling background.