Synopsis
Two men fighting for separate political ideologies are pitted against each other in the Republic of Santa Cruz, and although they never meet, their lives run in parallel courses filled with violence, appalling torture, and the love of the same woman
Reviews
The author of Caro returns to Latin America for the setting of a novel revolving around two powerful characters. Rafael Alejandro Chocano is commander of the elite Blue Berets of the Santa Cruz army, directed to quell a Communist insurrection. Mark Evgenevich Chernin, code-named Captain Marco, is an officer of the Red Army, sent as technical adviser to the guerrilla rebels. Neither has more than scant regard for his government, and ultimately each is merely a soldier doing his duty. The parallels are heightened when each becomes the lover of Rocio Chacon, the widow of a rebel killed in battle. Then a coup brings to power a party opposed to government loyalists and to Communists. Marco is captured; Chocano refuses to join the junta and suffers the consequences. This is a genre novel, works on the Latin American revolution being as much a subgenre of Cold War fiction as the spy novel. Although well-written and nodding toward changed global politics, in the end it seems caught curiously out of time.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Intelligence, cynicism, leadership, and a passion for an exceptionally healthy widow link opposing officers in a coup-ridden Latin American country. Here, Packer, who wrote The Second Death of Samuel Auer (1979) and The Sons of Saintly Women (1981), tackles major themes with charm and humor. Major Mark Chernin has been inserted by Soviet intelligence into the jungles of Santa Cruz to fiddle with the politics of that wretched nation in the last days of the Soviet Union. Ordered to attach himself to the local insurgent guerrillas, Chernin finds his mission is bent from the beginning as he immediately loses his political watchdog and then discovers that his rebel clients have deposed the leader he expected to meet to replace him with a fool. At the edge of the jungle, Col. Rafael Chocano, an honest and capable army officer reporting to flamboyantly corrupt generals, shapes a force capable of beating back the insurgency. In so doing, the big, gauche Chocano captures the imagination of the masses and makes himself a political force in spite of his distaste for the fabulously corrupt local politics. Both Chernin and Chocano are plagued to distraction by the jealousies and foolishness of the men around. They are the only two men in the country capable of appreciating each other's talents, but they never meet--despite numerous murderous clashes between their forces and despite their common fascination with a handsome and canny peasant woman. For all their skill and intelligence, their fates are, of course, governed by the parade of idiots, thieves, and liars who run the country, but each finds at least a modicum of valor in his troops. A splendid and surprising work that covers considerable ground without ever rambling or preaching. Philosophy, economics, history, social commentary--all are tucked in, pleasantly disguised as style. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Major Mark Chernin is a Russian advisor to a guerrilla band in the jungles of an unnamed Latin American country. Colonel Rafael Chocano commands an elite antiguerrilla brigade. Never destined to meet, they square off in postures typifying their cultures and mores. Both become involved with Rocio, a widowed farm woman. Their duel eventually precipitates enough violence to consume all parties. Despite Packer's interest in Latin mores and the qualities of leaders, most readers will probably see Flags as a passe novel of war between the Commie Rats and Capitalist Pigs, a genre that has been overcome by events. By the author of Caro ( LJ 12/15/75) and The Second Death of Samuel Auer ( LJ 5/1/79), this is only for very comprehensive fiction collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/91.
- Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRA LINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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