Night of the Jaguar

The Nicaraguan Sandinista Revolution provides the intriguing backdrop for Gannon’s riveting, action-packed debut. Once a hallowed warrior and member of State Security, Capt. Ajax Montoya has been relegated to homicide investigations because of the regime’s dissatisfaction with his role in the assassination of Jorge Salazar, a Contra leader. When a prosperous-looking man, apparently the victim of a robbery, turns up dead in a sewage ditch in a poor barrio, Montoya recognizes that the crime scene has been staged and the wound patterns actually bear the signature of a Contra-style execution. Montoya investigates the killing, but since the Sandinistas distrust him, he’s paired with a partner, Lt. Gladys Darío, who’s spying on him and reporting back to Montoya’s archenemy, Vladimir Malhora, Commander of the Directorate General of State Security. As several other similarly executed corpses turn up, Montoya cannot trust anyone and must singlehandedly find out who is responsible. Readers will eagerly await Gannon’s next book. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Sept.)