This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Ian Miller for Readers' Favorite
The city is Quito, Ecuador, which is described as being on a ledge on the side of Pichincha, an active volcano. The "ledge" is actually a little bigger than you might think from that description, but what follows in the book is a description of some of the seedier parts of Quito. The book starts with a shoeshine boy having a run-in with someone, getting kicked, and subsequently dying of renal bleed out. Shortly after this, a local TV station broadcasts a recording of a vile American (Jay Street) handing out hundred dollar bills to the poor. I must confess this confused me: why was this so bad? Then follows an introduction to a number of American diplomats in Quito, together with the odd CIA agent, and a description of some political issues in Quito. Eventually, we get to what the main issue of this book is: the Ecuadorian banana workers are on strike for higher wages, while the US Embassy sides with the owners to keep the price of bananas down in the US. The parties go for arbitration, but the US Embassy has the arbitrator under control, until he leaves town to take up a job in Dubai. Accordingly, Jay Street, an ex-football hero, is brought in to arbitrate.
The descriptions of Ecuadorian life are really convincing as are the machinations of the Americans (although I have no idea as to whether any of this is accurate). The descriptions of the climate, the life of ordinary Ecuadorians, and the general corruption of Ecuador are probably only too true. The characters are extremely well-drawn, except possibly for Sixto, a minor character who is more or less a caricature. The book proceeds by a series of scenes, and it appears that part of the purpose of this is to give the reader the quest of trying to work out what is going on, (i.e., in part, a mystery), with at least some answers in the final wash-up. The Americans, being diplomats, seem to be scheming much of the time, and they are very sparing with the truth. This book is generally very well-written. It is easy to read and the author seems to have a very strong association with Ecuador.
