Barranca (Eddie Caminetti Novels) [Hardcover]

Troon McAllister (Author)

Book Description

Series: Eddie Caminetti Novels | Publication Date: April 27, 2004

Legendary curmudgeon and hustler extraordinaire Eddie Caminetti has taken on the Ryder Cup (The Green), unrepentant sinners (The Foursome), and the entire golf equipment industry (Scratch). But enough with the small stuff: In Barranca, Eddie is called upon by the U.S. government to go after a South American economic terrorist threatening the only commodity capable of destabilizing the entire Western Hemisphere.

Yes, Manuel Villa Lobos de Barranca is out to corner the market on coffee.

When a grande (small) cup of Starbucks hits $20, riots break out in cities and towns all over America, worker productivity plummets, and the very fabric of society begins unraveling. But there's nothing the government can do about it because the scrupulously honest and upright de Barranca (Stanford, '96) is running his revolution without firing a shot or breaking any laws, which makes him the most dangerous subversive since Gandhi.

But he's nuts about golf, positively fanatic about betting, and that's where Eddie Caminetti comes in. Armed with only fourteen weapons of mass destruction (the most you're allowed to carry in your bag), he sets up a match against de Barranca on which hangs the very fate of Western civilization.

In the hands of master storyteller Troon McAllister, impending doom has never been more fun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"McAllister has carved himself a special little niche as one of the foremost practitioners of golf fiction." -Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Troon McAllister, a pseudonym of the thriller writer Lee Gruenfeld, is the author of three previous Eddie Caminetti adventures, The Green (soon to be a major motion picture from Crusader Entertainment and Paramount Pictures), The Foursome, and Scratch, as well as the baseball novel The Kid Who Batted 1.000. He lives somewhere in southern California and his handicap is still considered a federal disaster area.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rugged Land; First Edition edition (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590710231
• ISBN-13: 978-1590710234
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,527,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Mouse That Roared Takes Up Golf, July 6, 2004

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Barranca (Eddie Caminetti Novels) (Hardcover)

This is not your usual Eddie Camenetti golf adventure. In fact, the golf is very much a side piece to the book. It is much more of a comment on the foibles of our governments, the media that cover them and what motivates both told in very biting satire. The structure of the story is interesting. In the first section of the book we read "the beginning of the story." In the second part we are told the "end of the story." At the end we are told "the middle of the story." Of course, it is the middle that makes all the rest understandable.

Some of the characters of the book are very entertaining, perhaps none more so than the GNN "war correspondent" Mona Bertram who might just remind you a wee bit of CNN's "war chick", Christiana Amanpor.

To outline the story here would spoil the read. It is a clever effort and sometimes it is a bit too clever. Other times it hits home with some truths that make you pause. When the Secretary of Homeland Security is asked by the president's chief of staff if he can help in a situation, it is pointed out that he "was happy to do anything, as his was a thankless a job as any to be found on the planet and he was always on the lookout for things, however small, that might earn him some recognition or gratitude. Like people who cleaned toilets or maintained computers, his success was utterly dependant on absolutely nothing bad happening, and when it didn't, nobody noticed. It was only when the plumbing backed up or the operating system wiped itself out or a building got blown up that anyone paid any attention and then all manner of hell would pour down and the trouble free years to that point wouldn't even be a rounding error in the balancing of recriminatory accounts."

Eddie is more fun when doing his thing on the golf course and hopefully he will be returned there for the next effort.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fourth book a quadruple bogey!, March 16, 2005

By 

Paul R. Bolton "golf fanatic and voracious re... (Port Elgin,Ontario,Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Barranca (Eddie Caminetti Novels) (Hardcover)

Troon McAllister, beloved by many for creating Eddie Caminetti and using him so wisely in his first three books, The Green, The Foursome and Scratch, completely missed the ball in Barranca. This book has less than 1/4 of it's pages dedicated to the man we love to see hustle, Eddie. The rest is filled with half-developed characters who we really have no interest in. We spend more time hearing about Mona Bertram's hair care than Eddie's golf hustle with the coffee revolutionary Barranca. While revisiting characters can be difficult the cover says " An Eddie Caminetti Novel" I don't think it was and wish I had followed the advice of other reviewers who suggested avoiding this one. Hope Troon finds the fairway with his next book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the golf?, February 24, 2005

By 

Matt Dymond - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Barranca (Eddie Caminetti Novels) (Hardcover)

Sorry Troon, but you put a snowman up on this one. What a big disappointment. I loved the other Eddie C. books... I always tried to read one as spring approached to get me in the golfing mood. But this ain't no golf book... and barely and Eddie C. book. I feel like I was duped. For others considering this as their next followup to The Green, The Foursome, and Scratch.... don't.