Chivor

Sam Cassady knew he'd hit bottom when he heard the cell door slam closed. There's an air of finality to that clang of metal on metal, when the walls of a squalid cage close in around you and you know, for real, that you're in there to stay. Minimum five year sentence, that's what the judge had said, and that's assuming he even lived that long. He'd been shot sneaking into Mexico from Guatemala and the wound in his left shoulder, still not properly treated, hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and was badly infected. The Mexican Federales, instead of helping him, had confiscated his Beretta, arrested him for weapons smuggling, and chucked him right straight into the Tabasco State Prison. He had no money, no papers, and no one back home knew, or even cared, where he was. Could things possibly get any worse? Oh, most definitely.

A guard showed up outside the cell, informing him of an unexpected visitor. Half out of his head with fever, he was escorted to the warden's office, and when the woman who was waiting there looked his way, his breath caught in his throat. Fiery-red tresses fell past her shoulders, parenthesizing a flawless face and eyes that shone an incredible emerald green. Long, well-tanned legs extended from beneath a short cotton skirt, and her silk blouse was strained by a bust line that would stop traffic on a freeway.

"Your wife has paid your fine," the Warden said amiably. "Just sign these papers, and you'll be free to go."

"My wife?" said Sam, gaping openly. He turned toward the woman, a questioning look in his eyes. He'd never seen her before in his life.

Thus begins the novel Chivor, a rousing tale of adventure by up and coming writer Richard Quinn. Most of the action is set in Colombia, the country that produces the best coffee, the cheapest cocaine, and the finest emeralds found anywhere in the world. Mix the three together and you get cash by the boatload, side by side with grinding poverty, which is a sure recipe for political corruption, armed insurrection, and that peculiar brand of violent criminals popularly referred to as the "cartels". Add a dash of spectacular landscapes, exploding mountainsides, pitched gun battles, the thrill of every type of chase imaginable, and a soupçon of romance, you get a pretty good story. Add a legendary emerald treasure worth billions, you get a great story. Chivor. Check it out.