Marimba
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
IN MIAMI, THEY CALL THE DRUG TRADE
MARIMBA
"A superior [thriller] . . . with an amoral family that will chill the blood . . .double-dealing federal drug agents and nonstop action . . ." —The New York Times
"[In] Hoyt's supercharged new thriller . . . James Burlane, ex-CIA man now working freelance for a high level government investigative committee, is on the surface the ultimate marimbeiro, a wild-haired, wok-toting adventurer with only a backpack to his name . . . Hoyt . . . knows the political intricacies of the drug trade and its roots in Central America. He knows Miami, down to the . . . warm night breezes. He also knows how to construct a thriller. MARIMBA is a wild ride into Carl Hiaasen territory, dark and nasty, with a dose of . . . casual evil added to the mix . . .
"Expert storytelling."—George Pelecanos, Washington Post Book World
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Assigned to ferret out corruption among U.S. undercover forces in the drug war, special agent James Burlane becomes Sid Khartoum, a swaggering cocaine cargo pilot, dropping kilos off the Florida Keys and monitoring the conspicious consumption of the deep-cover cops who befriend him. With so many secret agents with secret agendas, the plot quickly takes on a satisfying who's-with-who insolubility. Hoyt ( Cool Running ), a former army intelligence officer, handles inter-agency intrigue with a firm, cynical grasp, although, given the extent of the sophisticated corruption, the climactic expose of the true culprits in a single session of a congressional committee seems too neat. Hoyt's knack for absurdity--he sets one secret meeting at an exhibition of dolphin water-polo, for instance--gives his story a cheeky, over-the-top quality that makes it memorable. This theatrical style, livened by a liberal lacing of black comedy, fits the topic--a drug war that is mostly media theater. Detours into Santeria provide encounters with a symbol of unambiguous evil, but Hoyt is best at wending a quick and quirky way through ambiguity. Despite the interludes of black magic, this novel has a fast pace and agreeably dark humor.
