Dawson Slone has served in Afghanistan as a medic. Having earned the Medal of Honor and been discharged as a hero, he now volunteers with Doctors Without Borders. Agreeing to fly solo into Peru, Dawson is aware of the dangers he might face, including poorly maintained runways and ancient aeroplanes and hazardous flying conditions in jungles and mountains. But within days of his arrival he finds himself in more trouble than he could have anticipated. Captured by the Shining Path, a syndicate of international cocaine smugglers, he is initially forced to fly their planes. Later, in Columbia, he is held captive and his estranged wife, Myra, is informed that she must pay a three million dollar ransom if she ever wants to see him again. Slone’s connections trigger a response that goes all the way to the President’s office in the White House. Just as a daring rescue mission by the Green Berets is about to kick into gear, Slone manages his own escape. What will he have to do to make a clean getaway? And will he ever see his wife or country again?
Keith Reiss’s WHEN NO ROAD IS SAFE is a thrilling adventure yarn. Despite being set in the very near future, it’s old fashioned and traditionalist. Reiss is a solid writer who has previously published numerous well received books. Flipping between characters and scenes, from jungles to prisons to military bases, he skillfully evokes a world of high stakes decision making and palpable tension. He’s no prose stylist but his writing is clear, well paced and services the plot perfectly.
The male characters, most especially the main protagonist Dawson Slone, are convincingly drawn. Archetypal. Heroic. Tough guys. The female characters, most notably Myra, have somewhat less about them both in the way that they act and the way that they talk. Indeed, if there is a weak spot in the novel it is that the dialogue is sometimes overwritten in order to explain a plot point or contextualize a situation. A prime example is a labored and entirely unnatural interaction between Slone and a young woman called Cancgaya, his first contact in Peru, who embarks on an unprompted and lengthy history lesson on the Inca civilization, Peruvian dialects, coffee, coca leaves and the difficulties in using UHF and VHF radio signals in the mountains. For the most part though, Reiss keeps things simple and lets the action tell the story.
WHEN NO ROAD IS SAFE by Keith Reiss blends high octane drama with just a touch of romance to make a page-turner of a novel that keeps the reader at the heart of the action–from its dramatic airborne opening onwards.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader