Sugarland [Hardcover]

Phillip Finch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Finch ( Trespass ) vividly portrays a Third World tragedy in this flawed but generally engaging mystery. After insurance investigator Pat Collins is murdered in the Philippines, his colleague, ex-cop Jack Hart, is asked to pick up the trail of inquiry. Their firm has been trying to determine if Californian Carlito Sanchez really died in a fire while visiting Negros Occidental, the Philippine province where he was raised. Pursuing the investigation stateside, Hart learns that "Lito," whose history of fraud is extensive, had spent a small fortune on weapons before his trip. Now Hart has the dangerous task of looking for Lito in an impoverished jungle fiefdom where Communist guerrillas, right-wing vigilantes and the Philippine army have been waging a pointless war. Despite the risks, Hart is eager to meet Lito's beautiful cousin Vangie, a photograph of whom has bewitched him. After he reaches Manila, he is guided by worldly, likable Bembo Rojas, via ferryboat and jeepneysic , to a sugarcane plantation providing work, housing and slave wages for thousands, at one time including Lito. This hacienda is owned by Luis Correon, for whom the guerrillas have been extorting "revolutionary taxes" and who is willing to help Hart search for Collins's murderer. The investigation grows more complicated as Hart finds and immediately falls in love with Vangie, who insists that her cousin is dead. Although she is not lying, it will not surprise the reader that she is wrong. This sort of predictability and the one-dimensionality of Hart's emotions for Vangie weaken the plot. Still, the resolution is quite poignant, and many of the other players, especially Bembo, are memorable.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Jack Hart is an investigator tracking Carlito Sanchez for insurance fraud. Unexpectedly Hart's partner is murdered. Fairly standard opening for a detective story, but Sanchez is Filipino and the murder was in his home town in the Philippines. Hart goes to investigate and quickly becomes enmeshed in a political and social snarl far beyond his capacity to handle. Falling in love with a beautiful schoolteacher with dangerous ties to heavily armed sugar planters and to equally murderous Communist guerrillas is perhaps the worst thing he could do, and Hart quickly finds out that everything is a capital offense. Highly recommended for plot, introspection, location, hero, and, most of all, disturbing insight.
- Edwin B. Bur gess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Ft. Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 edition (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312064748
• ISBN-13: 978-0312064747
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #717,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Nice, "Lightweight" Adventure Novel Set in the Philippines, October 16, 2010

By 

stoic (Mobile AL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Sugarland (Hardcover)

Sugarland is a 1991 mystery-adventure novel by Phillip Finch. The novel's strengths are its vivid depiction of the Filipino underworld and some nice plot twists. Unfortunately, it is also a bit predictable and that keeps me from giving it more than three stars.

The novel centers on Jack Hart, a former San Francisco cop who was wounded on the job and then left the force. Hart's personal life is also a mess; he is divorced and has little contact with his daughter. To make ends meet, Hart investigates fraudulent claims for an insurance agency. At the beginning of the novel, the agency discovers that a young man who reportedly died may be alive and well in a remote part of the Philippines. Hart then travels to the Philippines to investigate.

Perhaps the best aspect of Sugarland is its vivid depiction of life in the tropics. Hart finds himself in a world where the rules that he learned in the U.S. simply don't apply. Another plus is that Finch's "bad guys" are well-drawn, interesting characters.

Though Sugarland has the potential to be excellent, Finch doesn't quite pull it off. The book has too many "pat" elements that make it predictable. For instance, Hart meets an exotic local beauty and they quickly fall in love. The book also has some predictable lectures from the locals about how Americans don't know how good they have it. Finally, Finch throws in some goodhearted communist rebels who are battling the evil local land barons.

In the end, Sugarland is worth a look, but it's best for readers who want simple escapism.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit confusing in the layout, Paradise Junction is better, October 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sugarland (Hardcover)

This one is supposed to be good, but the premises from the very beginning are not quite believable. For a $50,000 life insurance fraud, the insurance company would send an investigator to the Far East, to a mid-of-nowhere small Phillipine(?) island to dig out that low life? Get of here, man! Especially a second private dick is still a GO after the first one has been murdered? Are we talking about the $50,000 in the late '40s or '50s, when this currency was so valuable? Nah, my man, this is a story in the late '90s, U.S.$ is already fluctuated and devaluated paper money, although the greenness and the dead presidents are still the same. Sigh....but anyway, the story is not bad at all, very interesting sugarland view and storyline.