Post by kungfuzu on Jul 8, 2021 13:01:02 GMT -8
Cari Mora is the latest book by Thomas Harris of "The Silence of the Lambs" fame. Hannibal Lecter is no where to be found amongst its pages. That said, Harris has a talent for creating monstrous psychopaths and "Cari Mora" has one.
The protagonist, Cari Mora is a twenty-five-year-old Colombian refugee who lives in South Florida. She was kidnapped as a child by FARC , a band of criminals pretending to be revolutionaries famous for its child soldiers. Here she was forced to take part in the fight against the "capitalists" and while doing so, she learned quite a bit about weapons.
After spending a number of years in the service of FARC, she escaped and made her way to the USA as a political refugee. At the time the story takes place, she is still waiting for final approval by the Feds, thus she is in a legal and political limbo.
In order to earn her bread, Cari acts as a sometime house sitter in a vacant mansion which once belonged to Cocaine King, Pablo Escobar. There is a rumor that before he was killed, Escobar hid 1,000lbs of gold bars somewhere on the property, but Cari knows nothing about this and has seen nothing indicating such a thing.
This house is managed by a local lawyer who has, over the years, rented it out to different parties. At the moment, he has let it to the above-mentioned psychopath, a certain Hans-Peter Schneider, who is a Paraguayan of German descent. Unfortunately for Hans-Peter, he has some genetic condition which makes him as hairless as a sphynx cat . (While we are still on the subject of Egypt.
)
Schneider and his crew are searching every nook and cranny of the property to find the safe which holds the gold. Unfortunately for them, it appears the safe was booby-trapped with enough C4 to send any gold therein, as well as those within a few hundred feet radius, to the next dimension.
Hans-Peter is in communication with the man who delivered the gold for Escobar and knows how to defuse the trap and get the gold. This man, who is on his death bed, will not tell Hans-Peter the way to do this until Hans-Peter sends more money, thus insuring his family is secure after his death. For some reason, Schneider refuses to to this.
While Hans-Peter dickers, another group is also after the gold. This group called Ten Bells, is literally a band of thieves. It is led by a Don Ernesto Ibarra.
The story deals with how each group tries to outsmart and/or out kill the other in order to recover the gold.
At the same time this is happening, Schneider becomes obsessed with Cari and wants to satisfy his sadomasocistic yearnings by doing some body work on her. Fortunately for Cari, she has not forgotten her FARC training.
I would classify "Cari Mora" as a reasonably good book. It is very easy to read and one can get through it very comfortably in a couple of days. The story is generally plausible, particularly given the nutty and outrageous actions of the drug cartels south of the border.
My main complaint would be that Harris has written a book with a bit too much of a nod to today's politically correct feminist blather. Thankfully, he doesn't lay it on too thickly.
The protagonist, Cari Mora is a twenty-five-year-old Colombian refugee who lives in South Florida. She was kidnapped as a child by FARC , a band of criminals pretending to be revolutionaries famous for its child soldiers. Here she was forced to take part in the fight against the "capitalists" and while doing so, she learned quite a bit about weapons.
After spending a number of years in the service of FARC, she escaped and made her way to the USA as a political refugee. At the time the story takes place, she is still waiting for final approval by the Feds, thus she is in a legal and political limbo.
In order to earn her bread, Cari acts as a sometime house sitter in a vacant mansion which once belonged to Cocaine King, Pablo Escobar. There is a rumor that before he was killed, Escobar hid 1,000lbs of gold bars somewhere on the property, but Cari knows nothing about this and has seen nothing indicating such a thing.
This house is managed by a local lawyer who has, over the years, rented it out to different parties. At the moment, he has let it to the above-mentioned psychopath, a certain Hans-Peter Schneider, who is a Paraguayan of German descent. Unfortunately for Hans-Peter, he has some genetic condition which makes him as hairless as a sphynx cat . (While we are still on the subject of Egypt.
) Schneider and his crew are searching every nook and cranny of the property to find the safe which holds the gold. Unfortunately for them, it appears the safe was booby-trapped with enough C4 to send any gold therein, as well as those within a few hundred feet radius, to the next dimension.
Hans-Peter is in communication with the man who delivered the gold for Escobar and knows how to defuse the trap and get the gold. This man, who is on his death bed, will not tell Hans-Peter the way to do this until Hans-Peter sends more money, thus insuring his family is secure after his death. For some reason, Schneider refuses to to this.
While Hans-Peter dickers, another group is also after the gold. This group called Ten Bells, is literally a band of thieves. It is led by a Don Ernesto Ibarra.
The story deals with how each group tries to outsmart and/or out kill the other in order to recover the gold.
At the same time this is happening, Schneider becomes obsessed with Cari and wants to satisfy his sadomasocistic yearnings by doing some body work on her. Fortunately for Cari, she has not forgotten her FARC training.
I would classify "Cari Mora" as a reasonably good book. It is very easy to read and one can get through it very comfortably in a couple of days. The story is generally plausible, particularly given the nutty and outrageous actions of the drug cartels south of the border.
My main complaint would be that Harris has written a book with a bit too much of a nod to today's politically correct feminist blather. Thankfully, he doesn't lay it on too thickly.