Glass Mountain: A Novel - Hardcover

Koster, R. M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039302007X ISBN 13: 9780393020076

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001

Synopsis

A novel in the vein of Conrad and Le Carré: a man risks his life to save his soul.

When Carlos Fuertes looks in the mirror, he sees a dead man. Son of an assassinated Latin American president, Carlos found his calling in Vietnam going on lone raids north of the DMZ. Now he works out of Tijuana, Mexico, stealing children for the losing parties in divorce custody contests, his nerve and self-respect broken, a victim of terrifying hallucinations.

A phone call from the past offers a reprieve: an "op" is being mounted to kidnap a fugitive American financier from Central America. An authentic trial, Carlos decides, with authentic risk, is the only way back from death in life.

Through the grueling preparation stage and meticulous setup, Carlos begins to rediscover himself, even as he puts on the roles the operation requires. Only near its end, however, does he see his chance to repair his life fully.

Glass Mountain renders the details and tension of a covert military operation with riveting immediacy, then turns the excitement higher through a rescue and escape Carlos improvises on the fly. With mastery of form and language, R. M. Koster crafts an exhilarating novel on the classic American theme of redemption through violence―a fitting sequel to his acclaimed Tinieblas Trilogy.

About this title

About the Author

R. M. Koster is the author of The Tinieblas Trilogy, comprising The Prince, The Dissertation, and Mandragon. He lives in Panama.

Reviews

Koster's latest offering (after the Tinieblas Trilogy) attempts a high-wire act the injection of a "serious" literary sensibility into a Clancy-style military thriller. The narrator is Carlos Fuertes, son of a deposed Latin American president. Fuertes went over the edge doing counterinsurgency in Vietnam, returning to America after three tours, although his family still thinks he is missing in action. In 1984, he is plagued by gruesome hallucinations and operating as a kidnapper, snatching kids for the disgruntled losers of custody battles. He breaks down after abducting the children of Ellen Gonders and delivering them to her ex-husband, Antonio Oliviera, a dangerous oligarch from Atacalpa, a Central American country with some resemblance to El Salvador. Down and out in Juarez, Carlos decides to expiate his guilt by joining a semilegal operation organized by one of his former commanders in Vietnam, "Ape" Thomas. The op's aim is to snatch a swindling millionaire, Edgar Haft, from Atacalpa, where the laws against extradition protect him from the U.S. The op is financed by another roaming millionaire, Jim Keegan, who's seeking a government pardon. After rigorous training, Carlos infiltrates Haft's household as a gardener, only to discover connections between Haft and Antonio Oliviera, as well as Ellen Gonders and Haft's wife, Diana. Then he makes it his mission to return Ellen's children to her. The narrative takes time to achieve momentum, hindered by distracting tangents and constant, pointless retractions: "I sat down... with my face in my hands. No, I opened the tap and spritzed my face. No again." Koster's grasp of Mission Impossible detailing is impressive, but fans of the action genre may find it difficult to indulge his existential bent.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 039302007X
• ISBN 13: 9780393020076
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304