New York editor Hilary Pearson has vanished while vacationing at a high-class resort in Bolivia. The repercussions of her disappearance could cause problems for the hotel on a worldwide scale, so the resort's PR agent Pilar Rojas contacts ex-lover and travel writer Jacob Smalls for help. As a travel writer, Jacob would sell his journalist principles for free airline tickets, rooms, meals and extras, so he easily succumbs to the temptation of writing a positive review of Pilar's vacation hotel.
After doing some research concerning Hilary's life and the circumstances of her trip to Bolivia, Jacob is sure he has a real story to investigate and a crime to uncover. Reuniting with Pilar will be an added bonus, but getting caught up in the local political situation becomes more dangerous with each person he encounters. What is everyone trying to hide? Is there a connection between the hotel and the left-wing group Condepa? Is Hilary alive and how does she figure into what else is going on at the resort?
With a writer's vivid imagination, protagonist Jacob Small is always thinking up hypothetical scenarios in his mind, speculating about different outcomes to his exploits. Jeff Soloway provides an abundance of commentary about the history of Bolivia, as well as the country's jungle scenery, the opulent hotel layout and the citizenry of the area. THE TRAVEL WRITER starts with a promising premise, but soon evolves into a rather weak story.
Award-winning author Jeff Soloway debuts an entertaining
new mystery series featuring a globe-trotting, caper-
solving travel writer with a witty voice and a penchant for
landing in sticky situations.
At a posh South American resort tucked into the lush
jungles of the Andes, an American journalist has gone
missing, leaving the hotel's PR agent, Pilar Rojas, with an
international incident on her hands. Which is why she
offers her ex-lover, travel writer Jacob Smalls, an all-
expenses-paid trip to the resort in exchange for a puff
piece extolling its virtues β and some behind-the-scenes
digging into the disappearance. Intrigued by the prospect
of winning Pilar back β and eager, as always, for freebies
β Jacob hops the first flight to La Paz, Bolivia.
Although he hasn't seen Pilar in years, Jacob finds her
just as intoxicating as he did when they were together. But
from the moment he hits the city's cobbled streets, Jacob
attracts all the wrong kinds of attention. Political
flunkies and goons of all stripes try to scare him off the
trail, while the missing woman's not-quite boyfriend
insists on shadowing Jacob's every move. And amid ancient
Incan hillside terraces, a world-class hotel conceals a
secret that may kill.
No excerpt available.
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