Mazatlan: A Jack Novak Thriller [Hardcover]

E. Howard Hunt (Author), P. S. Donoghue (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1993

Former DEA agent Jack Novak is hired to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a TV evangelist, who disappeared during a tour of Central America, a case that takes Novak to Mazatla+a7n, Mexico, and into a confrontation with drug kingpins.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Watergate operative Hunt, who as P. S. Donoghue has written Evil Time and other thrillers, uses his own name as author of this adventure but endeavors to signal Donoghue fans by listing that name, too, on the front cover. Here Hunt/Donoghue introduces oh-so-cool tough guy, ex-DEA agent Jack Novak, a ship's chandler in Cozumel. As a favor to Melody, his wealthy college-student lover from South Miami, Novak agrees to search for the missing father of her friend, Tara Vaill; Billy Joe Vaill, televangelist and con man, disappeared during a Central American tour. Most of the action takes place in and around Mazatlan, Mexico, and involves--surprise!--drugs, gun-running and corruption. In between improbable heroics, Novak drinks a lot of fancy rum and makes oblique references to previous adventures, a device likely to confuse readers, since this is his first appearance. While no woman on these pages is less than stunningly attractive and/or sexually intriguing, Novak is the kind of fellow who can say to an embarrassed Tara, whose "breasts swung charmingly free" of her torn shirt, "'No time for false modesty--I've seen breasts before."' Even those who enjoy this cartoon tale aren't likely to take it seriously.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Another awesomely un-politically correct thriller from Hunt (Chinese Red, 1992, etc.), this kicking off a new series narrated by an ex-DEA agent who knows his way around guns, booze, and boats- -and who will slap a ``bitch'' around if she gets out of line. Fortunately, Hunt writes a clean line so the retro wish- fulfillment blends smoothly into the hard action, though the manly fantasies start early on, as we learn that 40-ish Jack Novak is living with lovely Melody, a college student who at Jack's first glance looked ``all of sixteen years old.'' And then there's Melody's luscious pal Tara Vaill (she of the ``shapely loins''), who asks Jack to find her dad, a shady preacher who's disappeared offshore Mexico while sailing with his assistant, one Sister Grace. Jack heads to Mazatl n, the boat's last port-of-call--and there spots Grace, who's traded in her chaste robes for a string bikini, the better to show off her ``spectacular body.'' Before Jack can figure out how to play her, and where the preacher is, he learns from an old DEA buddy that Grace is actually Yolanda Parra, prominent member of Colombia's chief cocaine-dealing family. To meet her, Jack sabotages her beau's car and whisks her away--and, within minutes, whisks her clothes away as well. Taken with bold Jack, Yolanda offers him a job with her cartel; meanwhile, the DEA offers him a quarter million to take down the Parras. With maximum explosives and flashing blades, cutting a destructive path through both the Mexican and Colombian jungles, Jack does his patriotic duty, freeing preacher Vaill (whom Yolanda was using to ferry drugs) along the way--but, at last, letting the seductive dealer (she of the ``soft breasts and warm lips'') go free: ``Who knows- -our paths might cross again.'' No doubt they will, since Hunt gives his readership the sort of leathery fare they presumably want: For would-be tough guys only, though. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556113692
• ISBN-13: 978-1556113697
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #968,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)