Red Zone [Hardcover]

Alan McTeer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

The plan is to fly a small plane to Colombia, collect the delivery fee, and return to Miami on an airliner. But ace pilot Alan Richards begrudgingly agrees to deliver passengers as well--a last minute concession that will turn his near-perfect life into a mortal nightmare. A crash landing in a burning plane, torture at the hands of someone who has mistaken him for someone else, and a forced tour of some of South America’s most horrifying prisons are only the beginning of the long journey that will ultimately deliver him (and his copilot prettyboy Mario Rodriguez) into the hands of drug smugglers hiding out in the region of Colombia known as the Red Zone.

RED ZONE, a novel based on events that actually happened to the author, pits two well-intended but humanly fallible characters against some very bad men in an adventure that brims with danger, excitement, humor, insight and veracity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McTeer recounts the adventures and misadventures of adrenaline-junkie pilot Alan Richards and his co-pilot Mario Rodriguez after a crash-landing in the Venezuelan jungle plunges them into a world of misery and pain in this interesting but uneven debut. The cover declares the book "a novel based on a true story," which is exactly how it reads like a late-night tale recounted over beers in some smoky, Third World bar. After flames onboard force their plane down in the Red Zone designated a no-fly area because of rampant drug smuggling Alan and Mario are picked up by the Venezuelan police, and trouble begins in earnest. They're shuttled from prison to prison, beaten, tortured, cheated by crooked lawyers and brushed off by unhelpful embassies. When the duo eventually make it out of prison, it's only to fall into the hands of Jota, a smuggler bent on forcing Alan to fly drug runs for the Colombian cartel. On the ground, the story decelerates among the heroes' minutely catalogued trials, and McTeer's prose doesn't really take off until he climbs into the cockpit and hauls the reader into the air, where the riveting action comes nonstop. When Alan makes it home, he still has to free himself from the clutches of the drug smugglers and wiggle his way back into the arms of his girlfriend, who has pretty much given up on him. McTeer leaves a few loose ends dangling, so perhaps Alan Richards will fly again.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Alan McTeer first learned to fly as an air cadet in British Columbia at the age of 12. He has been flying ever since. He has lived in the U.S., Canada and Bolivia and Colombia. Currently, he lives in British Columbia and is the president of MCTR Productions, an independent digital production studio producing digital video footage for global film, TV and commercial markets. His company specializes in aerial photography. RED ZONE is his first novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: GreyCore Press (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096718519X
• ISBN-13: 978-0967185194
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,615,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thriller and a documentary, October 3, 2003

By 

Wolf "member, silent majority" (British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Zone (Hardcover)

RED Zone by Alan McTeer enticed me to complete the whole book in two sittings. That is unusual for me, because in general I have about 5 books on the go all the time and it will take me a week to go through a batch.

RED Zone was different. It kept my interest, it excited me with the adventure stories and it never got boring.

I am impressed with this writer and we should look forward to many more books from him. Particularly, I want to know what happen to Mario. Don't keep me in suspense, get RED Zone II going.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story telling., February 8, 2011

By 

Cathmaree - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Zone (Hardcover)

Loved the book. The story telling seemed so real that I felt I was standing right beside Alan the whole way.

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprising new addition to my Highly Recommended List, December 5, 2003

By 

Kristin Dreyer Kramer (NightsAndWeekends.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Zone (Hardcover)

Alan thought it would just be a routine flight to Columbia -- fly down, drop off the plane, and catch a flight back. But when the plane starts on fire, he's forced to make an emergency landing in an open field in Venezuela. Once he lands, he and his co-pilot, a Cuban named Mario, leave the plane to burn as they head off to find a way home -- before someone finds them.

Alan and Mario head for the nearest city and are on their way to safety when their bus is stopped, and they're caught without their passports. They're almost immediately connected to the burning plane and accused of running a drug smuggling ring. Before they know it, a routine flight to South America has turned into an unending battle to stay alive in a world of smugglers, crooked lawyers, and ruthless military men...

No, it's not the latest Colin Farrell action/adventure film -- not yet, at least. It's a new novel by first-time author, Alan McTeer. Based on a true story, Red Zone has the kind of non-stop, heart-pounding action that you don't expect to find in the pages of a perfectly harmless-looking book. And though I tend to bore easily when it comes to the same old adventure book/film, I have to confess that I couldn't stop reading Red Zone. The story is exhilarating, the writing is clear and effortless, and the characters are so alive that they practically jump off the page. The skeptic that I am kept thinking that there had to be something wrong with the book -- eventually, I figured, the action would slow down to a crawl, or the ending would leave me frustrated-but McTeer didn't let me down.

I'm sure that this first novel won't be the last we hear from McTeer. In fact, judging by the end of the book, I'm hoping there's a sequel in the works.

Be sure to pick up a copy of Red Zone. This surprising new addition to my Highly Recommended List will have you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last.