This is a terrific first effort– one reviewer on Amazon called it “exciting and entertaining”, and I agree. Schecter draws on his background as an international consultant, and a deep knowledge of Colombia, to lay out an interesting scenario: what if some smart terrorist (or government, in this case) decided to leverage an existing Colombian-controlled drug smuggling system to get fissile material into the US? Arrayed against the bad guys are a memorable cast of characters, including the president of Colombia (a former Miss Universe), the president of the US (a widowed Midwestern farm boy who gets quite an education), Fidel Castro, and a variety of lesser, but still well-characterized, lights. The local descriptions are superb, the overall plot is both plausible and quickly executed, and the pace is fast. My only complaint is that many of Schecter’s characters sound alike– not an uncommon problem for first novelists. I look forward to more of Schechter’s books in the future. Highly recommended.
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