Beneath a Panamanian Moon
A Mystery
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
One of the freshest thrillers in recent years is this unique blend of Stephen Hunter meets Carl Hiassen
WANTED: Private firm seeks former military personnel for overseas assignment. Must be proficient in firearms and explosives. Experience in special operations a plus. Successful candidate must also play piano. $1.5K/day. Compensation package includes death benefits to next of kin.
John Harper is the most reluctant spy in the history of the craft. He's retired, quit, run in from the cold, traded in his gun for a Steinway baby grand, and settled comfortably into D.C., where the only dangers are jealous husbands and underdone hors d'oeuvres. But men who know how to handle Gershwin and a Glock are rare, and when a Panamanian resort hotel advertises for a piano player with lethal skills, the government sends Harper into the twisted company of American mercenaries, camera-shy Colombians, and a revolution set for New Year's Eve, when Harper is scheduled to play his farewell performance before the fireworks begin.
David Terrenoire's Beneath a Panamanian Moon brings long-overdue humor to an often grim genre while crafting a razor-sharp thriller that's fast, funny, and unforgettable. John Harper will stay with you long after you've closed the book on the final, explosive scene.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Terrenoire draws on his two years with the U.S. Army in Central America for his humorous debut thriller spiced with exciting commando action. Ex-spy/piano player John Harper gets dragooned into leaving his comfortable life entertaining at Washington, D.C., social functions for a fading luxury hotel in Panama City, where ongoing paramilitary training appears to be building to an unknown event planned for New Year's Eve. The previous piano player got eaten by a snake or a shark. Packing his autographed 8 10 photo of Duke Ellington, Harper has mere days to solve the puzzle and also figure out why various soldiers of fortune are being killed. The sinister Kelly, the man in charge, takes an immediate dislike to our unlikely hero: "It must be quite difficult to kill terrorists with a piano." "Not if you drop it from a great height, sir," replies Harper, who makes an engagingly offbeat narrator ("You're like this weirdly hip choirboy," another character tells him). The Canal Zone years after the blitz to grab Noriega is a superb setting, and the solid supporting cast includes the deadly and efficient Phil "Mad Dog" Ramirez, who could play Hawk to Harper's Spenser for many entertaining novels to come.
