Jacob Smalls, a
freelance travel writer, is asked by his former girlfriend to travel
to Bolivia to help find a missing person. She promises him a
complementary stay at the fabulous new Hotel Metamoros as an
inducement. Jacob loves the freebees his job entails, particularly
the five star hotels and comped meals. He also loves his
ex-girlfriend and hopes the trip might get them back together.
The missing person,
Hilary Pearson, was one of his first editors. She encouraged him, and
he has good memories of her. If she's alive, he'd like to rescue her.
The trip starts well until Jacob notices Kenny on the same plane.
Kenny was a gofer in Hilary's office. Although it's implausible, he
thinks he was her boyfriend. He's inept and inserting himself into
Jacob's trip doesn't bode well for recovering Hilary alive.
I have mixed
feelings about this book. The author clearly knows about travel
writers. It's one of the most interesting parts of the book. Likewise
he's excellent at conveying the setting. I enjoyed his descriptions
of Bolivia. However, the characters are not likable. Jacob is
wrapped up in himself. He acts self-assured, but it seems to be a
pose. Kenny is an inept side-kick, but not an amusing one. The women
are bitchy and vindictive.
The book starts
slowly with Jacob getting ready to go to Bolivia. He does some
detecting, but the book centers on getting ready to go traveling. The
second half of the book picks up. Now he's in Bolivia and is faced
with political rivalries as well as problems with hotel
personnel, and his girlfriend.
If you like scenes
from other countries, you'll enjoy this book, but the mystery and characters could
be better.
I reviewed this book
for Net Galley.
No comments:
Post a Comment