Bushmaster Fall

A British naturalist working in Bolivia observes what appears to be a meteorite fall into the rain forest, but with the help of a KGB agent, he determines that international drug barons are involved--a discovery that may prove fatal.

The frightening purpose of a U.S.-funded experiment in the Bolivian rain forest unfolds to powerful effect in Posey's ( Prospero Drill ) outstanding thriller. Ostensibly intended to measure the absorption of radiation, the Amecos project has been over for several years, and all that remains are shacks and a British naturalist, Joly Goodpasture, who is studying the flora and fauna. Goodpasture is horrified to discover that a recent meteor shower has left no physical evidence of a meteorite but has instead saturated the area with a radioactive substance. His mission to map the "hot spots" involves, variously, a KGB agent posing as a Canadian astronomer, a State Department operative, a drug lord, a Shining Path guerrilla, a member of Greenpeace. Each of these characters operates according to complicated, idiosyncratic but credible motives, all of which Posey orchestrates into a surreal, and very satisfying, resolution.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A smart but rather dotty English scientist defends the South American rain forest he loves when it is threatened by a mysterious fallout of intensely radioactive material. Science writer and thriller author Posey (Red Danube, 1986, etc.) gets it right. A disturbingly tidy and symmetrical shower of meteorites lights the skies of eastern Bolivia, where there is no one to see it but sloths, macaws, and a few missionaries and scientists. One of the scientists is Dr. Joly Goodpasture, a Brit who has lingered to enjoy a life in the treetops after the departure of an American research team. The Yanks with their zillions of dollars' worth of gear had, for ostensibly benign reasons, been looking into the climatic patterns of the region. Goodpasture's contacts with civilization have been reduced to holiday dinners and a little discreet adultery at the nearest mission station. This pleasant loneliness ends when Goodpasture finds a dying monkey whose fur is dotted with bits of blue, glowing cesium. When he realizes that the forest has been somehow seeded with the poisonous material, Goodpasture decides to keep the disaster a secret lest Americans come in and level the trees to save them. But the Americans know. And although they also want to keep the disaster a secret, it's for their own nasty reasons. To Dr. Goodpasture's assistance comes Viktor Krylov of the now largely idle KGB. Charmed by Goodpasture and his treetop home, Krylov takes his lethal skills into the shaping battle. The men face, in addition to the Americans, a drug kingpin, a California cutie, and a very unpleasant missionary from Peru's Shining Path. Ecological thrills, without the usual dreary green preaching: a very neat trick. Charming characters, clever plotting, polished writing. Quite good. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Posey ( Prospero Drill ; Red Danube , both St. Martin's, 1985, 1986) combines ecological concerns with espionage and drug wars in a timely and provocative "eco-thriller" set in the Bolivian rainforest. Dr. Joly Goodpasture, a British naturalist working in the rainforest, witnesses an unexpected symmetrical meteor fall (described as "a perfectly thrown rock"). Shortly after, a monkey dies from radiation poisoning. Viktor Krylov, a Soviet nuclear inspector (and covert KGB agent), joins Goodpasture in his search for the source of the radiation. As this unlikely pair proceed, it appears that more than "outer space" is involved and that a radioactive isotope has been deliberately sown into nearby coca crops. This leads to danger for Goodpasture and Krylov from both sides of the drug war. Filled with romance, intrigue, and deception, this thriller also has rich, colorful imagery, deeply drawn characterizations, and a well-researched premise. Highly recommended.
- Stacie Browne Chandler, Plymouth P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.