Plunder of the Sun

David Dodge once bet his wife that he could write a better mystery than the one she was reading. He won the bet and at age 44 he set off on new career writing a series of noir tales. This is a tightly written adventure yarn that takes place in mostly Peru after WWII. There is a hero tempting fate, an elusive treasure, a femme fatale and a sense of cynicism as to the loyalties of your allies. It's, as they say, the stuff that dreams are made of. Recommended.

Two-fisted treasure hunt holds plenty of plot twists and turns with murder, blackmail and lost Inca gold. Dodge delivers a breezy style that keeps the action moving fast and the characters interesting, even when the book suddenly shifts into a little too much romantic melodrama for its final act. The book is rich with plenty of detail of 1940s Peru as well as some interesting backstory of the treasure. The sections on the ship where Al Colby is still trying to figure out who his friends and enemies are and later his forced team-up with Jeff are the best sections of the book. The plot is pretty well played out, but the final ten pages seems anticlimactic. I have to admit, its hard not to like a book that encourages you to read The show more Conquest of Peru by William Hickling Prescott. show less

“Los muertos no muerden.”

Al Colby agrees to smuggle an unknown item from Chile to Peru on an American ship, for $1,000. But when the man who hired him ends up dead, things get messy. And then, a treasure hunt breaks out! Shootings, stabbings, and double dealings ensue, and it gets really messy!

Unfortunately, it wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't like Mr. Colby, and I didn't like any other character either. It wasn't just because they were all criminals, I just didn't like them. The last three words of the book were pretty much what I fought during my reading of it!

An enjoyable romp around South America in search of lost Incan gold. Ending isn't as satisfying as one would hope, but an interesting, light hearted quick read.

very readable

a little Indiana Jones like

makes me want to go out and buy a copy of Prescott's History of Peru

Big Ship
22 August 2015

Better by far than Dodge's The Last Match, also published by Hard Case Crime. The characters, pacing, and plot are much more conventional for genre fiction. Dodge's handling of the relationship between Colby and Luz is better than what one would normally expect to happen. In the past few weeks, this book has been unavailable on Amazon, and I hope it isn't going back out of print.

This reads just like the narration of a film noir movie. It wasn't great, but still a fun adventure.