Detour
by James Siegel
Paul and Jennifer Breidbart, a childless Manhattan couple, have tried fertility treatments
unsuccessfully for five years. They apply for help in adopting a baby to adoption lawyer,
Miles Golsdstein. He sends them to Colombia South America, to adopt a baby there. In
Colombia after acquiring an infant they are kidnapped by left wing militants. To rescue
his wife and infant Paul must swallow 16 condoms stuffed with cocaine and deliver them
to a contact in New Jersey within 18 hours. If he fails, Jennifer and the baby will die.
In New Jersey he finds a burned out house at his contact site. For help he contacts the
lawyer, Miles Goldstein, the orthodox Jewish lawyer who had arranged the adoption. Further
attempts to deliver the cocaine fail. Paul contacts Mosha Skolnick, a Russian mobster
who may help while the DEA steps in to complicate the situation.
In the meantime Jennifer is held hostage in a country house in the Colombia Mountains
where she tries to recover the baby held by the Colombia drug lord.
This is a chilling story of deceit and betrayal. There is great use of local color in
exotic Colombia settings as well as Little Odessa, the Russian neighborhood and the Jewish
neighborhood in Brooklyn. The fears and anxieties of the characters add to the breakneck
pace of the story. The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride with Paul and Jennifer
in their struggle to survive and recover the adopted infant.
Highly recommended |
The Reviewer |
Barbara Buhrer |
Reviewed 2005 |
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