Red Jungle

By Kent Harrington

Red Jungle is an archetypal noir thriller from Kent Harrington, author of the classic novel Dia de los Muertos. Set in Guatemala, Red Jungle steam-rolls over the tired formulae of good guys versus bad... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0939767503
• ISBN13: 9780939767502
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Dennis McMillan Pubns
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Ken Harrington's Red Jungle makes a Compelling Read

The novel evokes a Conradian setting and theme by placing the main character Russell Cruz-Price into the Guatemalan jungle, literal and figurative at the same time. In extremely hostile circumstances, the civilized man, a product of US military education and higher economic studies at prestigeous American universities, must now test his beliefs, utilitarian economic concepts and his affiliations in this Meso-American nation whose problematic is, although unawares to him, also a part of his heritage.The Price in him is North American, a utilitarian thinker but lonely to the bone, unattached. He calls himself a monolith. Cruz, whom he really does not know, due to early separation from and then death of his mother emerges in extreme circumstances and defines himself as a strong defender of the weak and offended (incident at school) and later in Guatemala when he chooses the role which would bring him into the front line of a coup d'etat against the brazen , thievish regime of President Blanco and his to be successor General de Selva, both of whom are selling the country out to foreign interests. The outside turmoil in Guatemala due to the collapsed economy, the collapse of plantations, the remnants of the feudal social establishment and the need to salvage life are the external conflict. Russell's inner transformation from the "quiet" American to a political assassin and treasure hunter represents the conflict within. The propellant force that makes him opt for death threatening circumstances is not simple fealty to his brave predecessors in the Cruz family tree but rather the love that was denied him from early childhood. He needs the love that is hard to come by. That is where his love for Beatrice becomes so compulsive. He also needs the Mayan wealth to buy her off and provide the riches she will have to forsake by choosing him over her husband. At this point in his transformation the benevolent, principled man becomes fallible. The beliefs and rules that worked in one civilization become useless in another. Not one of the protagonists is free from sin. The difference between the positive and the bad is that the "good" have good intentions. They all pretend, however, and have their private agendas. This is one level of the novel, but the novel communicates on more than one level. To me the most interesting level was the one that deals with the red jungle itself, which is the biggest chunk of the Russell's newly acquired Tres Rios plantation. It is very real thanks to the excellent atmosphere and detail rendering. As one reads, one feels the oppressive heat in which baring one's body does not bring relief and breathing is laborious. One hears the jungle's stealthy inhabitants, the jaguar and the snake and the thousands of other pests prohibing access to humans except to the bravest and the most driven. The jungle's thick canopy, the treacherous river that borders it and the thick impenetrable growth constitute a hermetic world whose secrets

A Chilling Political Thriller With Mayan Ambiance

Having lived and traveled in Mexico, Central and South America, I always found Guatemala to be one of the most fascinating places I ever visited south of the border. Of course I have not been there since the 1980's, and imagine much has changed in the ensuing years. I will always remember, however, the magnificence of Guatemala's mountainous northern landscapes, the rich and colorful indigenous culture, the tropical beauty surrounding Lake Atitlan, and the horror of the country's deadly politics.When I heard that Kent Harrington had come out with a new novel, "Red Jungle," a noir-ish political thriller set in this exotic Central American country, I knew I wanted to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's "Dia de los Muertos" and hoped to find a similarly exciting, well written tale here. I am not disappointed. Guatemala, indeed most of Central America, was rife with revolutionary upheavals and repressive violence during the last half of the 20th century. Popular demand for social justice collided with traditional feudal agrarian societies, underpinned by a small elite clique of land-owning families supported by the United States. The rapid expansion of commercial agriculture drove small peasants off the land and into urban areas where they did not have the skills to make a living, and lost their pride in indigenous traditions and their positions of worth in their local communities. The usually conservative Catholic Church became an agent for justice, popular mobilization and change. People demanded democratic reforms in the authoritarian political system, long dominated by landed elites and protected by vicious dictators, the military, and the infamous "death squads." In Guatemala the reformist wave was broken by more repression and the mass murder of local populations. The military had long been levying a campaign of terrorism and genocide against these groups, most of them Mayas, in order to distribute native peoples' land among plantation owners. Russell Cruz-Price's journey into the seething politics and secret wars of Guatemala, along with some very unwise decision making on his part, land him in a world of hurt...which, of course, makes for some awfully good reading. Cruz-Price, son of an American businessman and the beautiful daughter of one of Guatemala's elite and powerful families, spent most of his adolescence in the US. While his parents were in the process of divorcing, he was being educated at various military academies. Although he did spend time with his maternal family in Guatemala, Russ' visits came to a halt after his mother, Isabella Cruz, was killed, supposedly in an automobile accident. After graduating from university with a degree in economics, Russell got himself a job as a journalist for an English financial newspaper, based out of Guatemala City. And there is big news to report from Guatemala, financially speaking. The price of coffee is plummeting and Washington cannot stabilize the country's economy. The World

In the jungle, the wrong obsession can kill you...

RED JUNGLE is a novel that transcends genre. It's a political thriller, an adventure story, a murder mystery and above all a story of obsessive love: love of family, of country, of money, of glory, and of the absolutely wrong person at the worst possible time. Russell Cruz-Price returns to his mother's homeland searching for something he can't name. What he finds is violence, passion, mystery and the hope -- however slight -- of redemption. RED JUNGLE ranks with THE QUIET AMERICAN and AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD as a classic story of clashing cultures and doomed romance. Don't miss it.

Harrington's Masterpiece

Red Jungle is an ambitious and entertaining book with elements of both political thriller and noir novel, making it a compelling hybrid of Ross Thomas and Jim Thompson. Set in Guatemala, the story follows an American reporter stationed there to cover Central American politics and economics. 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. Harrington's book will draw natural comparisons to the work of Graham Greene, particularly The Heart of the Matter and The Quiet American. Those comparisons to one of literature's master craftsmen will be well deserved. With a strong narrative voice, fascinating plot, and sharply drawn characters, Red Jungle is powerful and compelling. It's still early in the year, but this seems destined to be one of 2005's best.