Arturo Arias

This novel is set in 1980s Guatemala, smack in the middle of a multi-decade civil war between the people and various military governments.

Tom Wright is a CIA agent who has been sent to Guatemala with the mission of rescuing Mr. Gray, an Australian banker. He has supposedly been kidnapped by the EGP, a guerilla organization. Wright must deal with the Guatemalan government to complete his mission. His past catches up with him in the form of Sandra Herrera, the first love of his life. She has married into one of Guatemala’s most powerful families. Their sudden meeting causes Tom to lose his professional equilibrium and puts him in great danger.

Like many others in Guatemala, Herrera’s motives are murky, and she seems to have multiple connections (to the drug trade, the EGP and the oligarchy). Their rekindled relationship gets Tom in trouble with the Guatemalan army and the US Embassy, increasing the possibility of his own abduction by other guerilla groups who know of his presence.

This is a fine piece of writing. It’s a rather "quiet" spy novel, more Graham Greene than Tom Clancy. It does a good job of showing that people, even past loves, are not always what they seem. This is well worth reading.… (mere)