Customer Reviews

Orinoco (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star First Edition Mystery)

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In 1998 Vermont, Joe LaCarta runs for the US Senate as an independent. On the same day Joe faces the media; his friend Francisco "Pancho" Morales is driving from Northern Baja to his home in San Diego after working as a volunteer at an orphanage. However, he is stopped by the police and two other vehicles. Knocked out, they send him and his car over the nearby ledge killing Pancho.

Joe attends the funeral of his 1972 Peace Corps pal; reflecting back to the idealism they and Pedro "Pete" Donovan made pragmatic with a heist. However, Joe soon realizes that the so called accident was a murder message intended to warn him about his senate run and the robbery that still funds a small town. He knows he can quit the race, but like his two Peace Corps compadres, Joe will not give up because of a threat; instead he plans to confront his unknown adversaries.

ORINOCO is an interesting political thriller as Joe learns the senate plays hard ball with mavericks. The action-packed story line is fast-paced although readers will be hard pressed to accept fifty years old Joe as an action hero. Still he is fun to follow and his political positions enlightening in probably the only state willing to elect a true independent (Bernie Sanders; Joe Lieberman remains a democrat). James A. Ciullo provides a twisting tale in which the past haunts the future.

Harriet Klausner

Suspense/mystery novels are an occasional read for me but the implications behind the cover of ORINOCO piqued my interest. Intrigued by the picture of the White House and the Nazi symbol, I decided to give the book a try.
I was not disappointed. In less than two days, I finished this finely-crafted novel. I couldn't put the book down. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and full of twists and turns, I found myself eagerly awaiting each chapter. The plot is thick with intrigue and the characters are well-developed. I recommend ORINOCO to any reader who enjoys suspense and "edge-of-seat" action.



Elizabeth J Palucci