Kent Harrington - Red Jungle (2005)
There are certain highly-talented authors who ply their trade in obscurity, regularly turning out quality books that amazingly going unheralded and largely unnoticed. If there were any justice in the publishing world, these would be the writers receiving the million-dollar advances and mammoth publicity budgets. Kent Harrington is just such an author.
Harrington’s Red Jungle is an ambitious and entertaining book combining elements of both a political thriller and a noir novel, making it a compelling hybrid of Ross Thomas and Jim Thompson.
Set in Guatemala, the story follows an American reporter who is stationed in the country to cover the Central American political and economic scene. Russell Cruz-Price is disillusioned with his career as a journalist and has embarked on a mad quest to recover a fabled Mayan artifact, the Red Jaguar, which he hopes will bring him the riches he so desperately desires.
The American is joined in his search by the improbably-named German archaeologist Gustav Mahler, a man even more desperate than him to find the prize. Like Fred C. Dobbs in B. Traven’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Mahler grows steadily madder as they journey deeper into the jungle, until the pursuit becomes an all-consuming obsession.
Cruz-Price’s romantic life is no better off, as he is torn between two women, one of whom he loves and one who loves him. Unfortunately, the one he is desperate for is the wife of the ruthless and dangerous Carlos Selva, the head of Guatemalan intelligence and likely successor to the country’s presidency.
Throwing all caution and good sense to the wind, Cruz-Price engages in a torrid affair with Selva’s wife, while at the same time becoming more involved in the internal politics of the country after he takes an advisory position with Selva’s chief political rival.
Through a series of flashbacks, the author also tells the story of Cruz-Price’s mother Isabella, a wealthy Guatemalan native who was murdered when Russell was just a boy. Her story adds further depth and insight to Red Jungle, exploring the complex political climate of the country’s history, as well as the troubled relationship between the descendants of the Spanish colonists and the nation’s indigenous peoples.
Harrington’s book will draw natural comparisons to the work of Graham Greene, particularly books like The Heart of the Matter and The Quiet American. Those comparisons to one of literature’s master craftsmen are well-deserved.
With a strong narrative voice, fascinating plot, and sharply-drawn characters, Red Jungle is a powerful and compelling read. It’s in early in the year, but this is already destined to be one of 2005’s best.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
