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Rattlesnake
In this stunning spy novel from Arturo Arias, Tom Wright, a CIA agent, is sent to Guatemala to rescue an Australian banker who has been abducted by a guerrilla organization known as EGP. There he reconnects with Sandra Herrera, a former lover who has since married into one of Guatemala's most powerful families. His involvement with her exposes him to internal turmoil and a host of dangers, as he realizes she may know more than she lets on. Arias captures complex political and personal relationships in a story replete with surprising plots and counterplots, and with people whose identities and affiliations we can never completely trust. Rattlesnake makes you explode with laughter with a bull's-eye kind of cultural humor not often seen in the U.S., and, at other times, will leave you gasping in horror.
228 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2003
19 people want to read
About the author
Arturo Arias
32 books9 followersArturo Arias (Guatemala City, 1950) is a Guatemalan novelist and critic. His early life was marked by the overthrow of democracy in 1954, and the ensuing military dictatorships and civil rebellions. These experiences, along with a visit to refugee camps on the Guatemala-Mexico border in 1982, sparked his dedication to peoples and Indigenous rights and inspired his scholarly research.
(wikipedia)
(wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 22, 2007
This novel is set in 1980s Guatemala, smack in the middle of a multi-decade civil war between the people and various military governments.
Tom Wright is a CIA agent who has been sent to Guatemala with the mission of rescuing Mr. Gray, an Australian banker. He has supposedly been kidnapped by the EGP, a guerilla organization. Wright must deal with the Guatemalan government to complete his mission. His past catches up with him in the form of Sandra Herrera, the first love of his life. She has married into one of Guatemala’s most powerful families. Their sudden meeting causes Tom to lose his professional equilibrium and puts him in great danger.
Like many others in Guatemala, Herrera’s motives are murky, and she seems to have multiple connections (to the drug trade, the EGP and the oligarchy). Their rekindled relationship gets Tom in trouble with the Guatemalan army and the US Embassy, increasing the possibility of his own abduction by other guerilla groups who know of his presence.
This is a fine piece of writing. It’s a rather "quiet" spy novel, more Graham Greene than Tom Clancy. It does a good job of showing that people, even past loves, are not always what they seem. This is well worth reading.
Tom Wright is a CIA agent who has been sent to Guatemala with the mission of rescuing Mr. Gray, an Australian banker. He has supposedly been kidnapped by the EGP, a guerilla organization. Wright must deal with the Guatemalan government to complete his mission. His past catches up with him in the form of Sandra Herrera, the first love of his life. She has married into one of Guatemala’s most powerful families. Their sudden meeting causes Tom to lose his professional equilibrium and puts him in great danger.
Like many others in Guatemala, Herrera’s motives are murky, and she seems to have multiple connections (to the drug trade, the EGP and the oligarchy). Their rekindled relationship gets Tom in trouble with the Guatemalan army and the US Embassy, increasing the possibility of his own abduction by other guerilla groups who know of his presence.
This is a fine piece of writing. It’s a rather "quiet" spy novel, more Graham Greene than Tom Clancy. It does a good job of showing that people, even past loves, are not always what they seem. This is well worth reading.
September 16, 2025
(Spoiler free review)
The book immediately had a "spy-thriller" sort of feel to it, without the spies (but the US CIA is involved). More of a political action-thriller, without mentioning the specific politics and issues involved. But as a thriller, it started out slow and was rather clunky.
There was some really great writing in here... and some not so great writing. To be honest, I was lost at times reading this, and the way it was worded, some things were ambiguous to the point of confusion. For example, it seems to me that in an action thriller, that you should be concise with who is who. In this book, a bunch of characters had real names, code-names and/or aliases, depending upon which organization was involved. Just when I thought I knew who was who, I found out I was wrong. I never did figure out which code name was assigned to which person (other than a couple obvious ones). Names and aliases were alluded to, but never concretely stated or even later resolved. It was almost as if this was some mystery with a big reveal, but it wasn't; no payout.
Another problem was the whole twistedness of the complex plots and counterplots. What I find interesting is the motivations, why are people doing what they are doing, something other than group loyalty (unless the group has specific motives). There was a bunch of groups, but none of the motivations were really given other than to "oppose" the other group. If fiction allows one to be empathetic, to what am I supposed to be empathetic for? What were the issues, other than personal glorification and greed? (which is quite frankly boring if that is ALL it is). In this sense, I didn't feel connected to any character or group; except the American CIA agent who was pretty much confused the whole book, too. Maybe I *did* comprehend what the author was saying, for he writes,
_Then I asked them why they were joining the fight. ‘Because we’re Indians,’ they responded. ‘And no matter how much money we make, Ladinos discriminate against us, and we’re tired of being discriminated against despite having money. We want equality with Ladinos. A more decent society. And when it comes to it, that's what it is about. It’s a war of decent people against corruption, more than a class struggle or an ideological conflict_
Maybe I'm being nit-picky here, but most of the action sequences were not well done. Who said or did what was often unclear. The use of pronouns was often very ambiguous (the "he" that fell to the ground - was it character A, B, C or D?) I am sure this would have been much better as a movie.
The ending was, sorry to say, anti-climatic. The best part about the book was its setting.
2.5/5 stars but dropped the 1/2 star for the lisp; I really hated the fake / intermittent lisp... it just made it almost unreadable.
The book immediately had a "spy-thriller" sort of feel to it, without the spies (but the US CIA is involved). More of a political action-thriller, without mentioning the specific politics and issues involved. But as a thriller, it started out slow and was rather clunky.
There was some really great writing in here... and some not so great writing. To be honest, I was lost at times reading this, and the way it was worded, some things were ambiguous to the point of confusion. For example, it seems to me that in an action thriller, that you should be concise with who is who. In this book, a bunch of characters had real names, code-names and/or aliases, depending upon which organization was involved. Just when I thought I knew who was who, I found out I was wrong. I never did figure out which code name was assigned to which person (other than a couple obvious ones). Names and aliases were alluded to, but never concretely stated or even later resolved. It was almost as if this was some mystery with a big reveal, but it wasn't; no payout.
Another problem was the whole twistedness of the complex plots and counterplots. What I find interesting is the motivations, why are people doing what they are doing, something other than group loyalty (unless the group has specific motives). There was a bunch of groups, but none of the motivations were really given other than to "oppose" the other group. If fiction allows one to be empathetic, to what am I supposed to be empathetic for? What were the issues, other than personal glorification and greed? (which is quite frankly boring if that is ALL it is). In this sense, I didn't feel connected to any character or group; except the American CIA agent who was pretty much confused the whole book, too. Maybe I *did* comprehend what the author was saying, for he writes,
_Then I asked them why they were joining the fight. ‘Because we’re Indians,’ they responded. ‘And no matter how much money we make, Ladinos discriminate against us, and we’re tired of being discriminated against despite having money. We want equality with Ladinos. A more decent society. And when it comes to it, that's what it is about. It’s a war of decent people against corruption, more than a class struggle or an ideological conflict_
Maybe I'm being nit-picky here, but most of the action sequences were not well done. Who said or did what was often unclear. The use of pronouns was often very ambiguous (the "he" that fell to the ground - was it character A, B, C or D?) I am sure this would have been much better as a movie.
The ending was, sorry to say, anti-climatic. The best part about the book was its setting.
2.5/5 stars but dropped the 1/2 star for the lisp; I really hated the fake / intermittent lisp... it just made it almost unreadable.
June 8, 2024
Four stars for being original. Set in Guatemala and seen thru a Guatemalan lens, coup, counter coup, beautiful dame and the CIA Americano do a dance.
April 9, 2014
Uh... I translated this book into English...
It's OK I suppose...
It's OK I suppose...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews