The Twain Maxim by Clem Chambers
Author Clem Chambers has taken Mark Twain's "A mine is a hole in the ground with a fool at the bottom and a crook at the top" axiom a turned it into a thrilling adventure in the Congo.
Chambers' second thriller, The Twain Maxim, follows the adventures of trading whiz kid Jim Evans as he looks into investing in a diamond mine in the Congo. The mining boss is corrupt, the mine is a fake, and Evans's broker finds himself pushed out of a helicopter and left for dead.
In a search for the broker's body, Evans encounters fifteen-year-old child-soldier 'Man Bites Dog.' Together they search the jungle for the broker's body but are unable to find it.
Chambers fills the story with African militias on a genocidal trek through the Congo and Rwanda regions and a DIA major's search for Evans' legendary fund manager's replacement that has gone missing in Africa.
That is only the beginning of the misadventures Evans finds himself entangled in. Add into the thriller the world's most active volcano and Pygmies, and Chambers takes his readers on a fast-paced rollercoaster ride through Africa.
Returning from Chambers' The Armageddon Trade is borderline psychotic DIA Major Jane Brown, a romantic interest of Evans who comes to help in the search for Chambers' missing fund manager. Brown, with her consignment of Doombahs, the latest Killbot technology, who are smart lethal, but flunky, airdrop into the jungle to perform their search. It turns into a fight to escape the militia after she calls in a destructive air strike on the militia's base. Adding to their difficulty in the final showdown is the city of Goma, destroyed by lava and yet home to one million people.
Chambers brings the troubles of today's Africa to play in his thriller, especial the child-soldiers and the genocidal militias. The book reads like possible headlines on tomorrow's TV newscast.
Michael Haskins is the writer of the Mick Murphy Key West Mystery series. CHASIN' THE WIND the first in the series, was published in March 2008 and the second book, FREE RANGE INSTITUTION, will be available in February 2011. He has finished the third book in the series, CAR WASH BLUES. He lives with his wife, family, and sailboat in Key West, Florida.
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