PRECIPICE

by Leland Davis

When risking your life for thrills grows old, some things are still worth dying for. . .

Adventurer, expert kayaker, and professional river guide Chip Wilson is wrestling with the recent death of his best friend in a kayaking accident when he's hired to train a team of former Navy SEALs for the whitewater rafting portion of an adventure race. But when he learns the team is secretly training for a covert mission that they can't complete without him, Chip is swept into a harrowing world of special operations and intrigue that plunges him deep into the jungles of Mexico and far from his comfort zone - where he embarks upon his own quest to become the first person to kayak off a mysterious hidden waterfall.

In the remote jungle canyon, Chip uncovers a plot that leads him all the way back to the halls of power in Washington, DC, and over the edge into the life of an assassin. . .

Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Military Fiction, Espionage, Action

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Leland Davis is a professional writer, editor, publisher, extreme kayaker and river guide. He is the author of 2 guidebooks, The River Gypsies' Guide to North America and North Carolina Rivers & Creeks , and his writing has appeared in numerous international, national, and regional whitewater and outdoors publications. His debut novel, PRECIPICE , was published in 2013. He has been a whitewater instructor and guide for over twenty years, leading tours and expeditions across the US as well as in Canada, Mexico, and South America.

Reviews

[The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precipice by Leland Davis is an action adventure featuring a white water river guide who gets sucked into the world of espionage by a team of seals. Young Chip's got no idea what he's getting into, but, thrill seeker that he is, he dives in with both feet. Chip provides the training, and some expertise, they give him a gun and it's off to the Southern end of Mexico to apply vigilante' justice to a Drug Lord. Thing's do not exactly go as planned...



Senator Moore hates his job, hates his wife but loves his daughter. He's finally found his way to escape the drudgery of congress without finacial ruin. All he has to do is vote "yes" to a bill that will open up the border to Mexican Truck Drivers hauling loads of products to the US. His political party is completely against it, but so what, what harm could a simple trucking bill do? Besides, he'll get paid enough to retire hunt Bambi, well, Bambi's Dad, pay his sweet innocent little girl's way through Stanford and stay the hell away from his manipulative strong willed wife. Best retirement ever! Except, there's one little problem. Somebody really wants this bill to pass. Somebody who has a lot of cash to burn an endless supply of bullets and a decided lack of morality. The Senior Senator form the great state of Alabama has just endagered his entire family. Nice going Moore... you dope.



Somewhere in Mexico, a drug lord and his lieutenants plot to expand their already vast and growing empire. They want to upgrade from the mass murders and grotest torture of yester-year to the more respectable business of being a drug cartel and marketing billions of dollars of crank, crystal-meth, cocaine, women, murder, and political manipulation (which comes with bribery). It's a dirty business that takes ruthless men.



In West Virginia, there's a new "start up" company that's not exactly a "dot.com" on the internet. Staffed by a team of ex navy Seals lead by a not so grizzled but very cage veteran and a trustable but slick little guy in a suit for logistics and administrative support has their first job. It pays better than their military careers ever had, it's in the service of thier country and it's doing what they love. Going to exotic places, meeting exotic people and killing them...."aaaah... now that's the life." New contract, there's an upstart Drug Lord with a fledgling Cartel... kill him and we'll call it the war on Drugs. (Nevermind that you can't wage a war on an inantimate chemical any more than you can on an emotionally based complex fear construct like terror but, hey, they get to kills people that nobody will miss and call it justice right? What could happen?..yeah, what?)



In California, a young Senator's daughter, hot and "finer than frog hair" struggles through her second year at Stanford. She's brilliant, or was, but now, she met a monkey, and the crazy little sucker won't get off her back. (Yes, that's a metaphor for drug use.) Sam, short for Samantha, struggles through the day to day misery that is the life of an addict or drug abuser on the way to their bottom, lying to Daddy in their daily calls, and staying as far away from controling social climber Mom, doesn't know she's caught the attention of some very bad people who want all the leverage they can get... very... bad... people...



and since when did a guy named "Chip" ever get the girl? That kind of thing just don't happen... does it?


Precipice is a well written espionage suspence thriller, well paced with a predictable but multi-layered plot. If this is Davis's first novel it's very well done. If it's not, then he learned his trade very well and it's on display here. His main character grows throughout the book, a plus for me, but it's hard to say if it was "growing up" or not. I liked his supporting cast, Harris, Sunderland, Sam, Moore, all were complex and imperfect in a good way. Chip's no saint. I kind of knew what was going to happen as I read the story. That's not because it wasn't complex, more because the "Formula" that this was written to was obvious and for the first 60% of the book, Davis sticks with it.



He throws in some twists and surprises into the plot a little past half way which adds some unpredictability but still the story seems formulaic. Outsider hero dragged into a world of deception, precision black ops and secrecy, Senator on the take thinks he's harmless, until he finds out who he's been helping, and senator's daughter, ready made damsel in distress for the hero to rescue meets indisputed villian drug lord and his indisputable villain cohorts and there is always a mole leaking important stuff to the bad guys.



Of course, saying it's "formulaic" is kind of like saying....It's just like a publisher would put out. The formula is tight, tried and true and if properly done, it works. This one is properly done and it works for me.



I didn't like the idea of vigilante' justice being "okay" and that is the reason for the low star rating. I'm not a fan of sentencing even datardly villans like the one in this book to death without a trial, evidence due process etc. Vigilante's have no checks and balances so when they make a mistake, not only are they unlikely to notice, it can't be unmade. That said, if an author works hard to keep things close to some moral line in the sand that I can hang on to, I can manage to stomach a book featuring vigilante' justice. Davis does manage to do that.



The strength here is not the formulaic plot but how...I don't know if "likable" is accurate here, but how "well made" the characters are. The main ones anyway. We get to see inside their lives and though we may not be able to justify their choices, we can understand their motivation. We can detest them at the same time love to read about them. I'd also say that, even though the plot is "formulaic" it's very well executed and, the white water setting adds a new angle to an old formula. it's not that no spy time in any book has ventured down a foamy river, but Davis knows his stuff when it comes to adventure sports and that aspect is well done here.



If it were not for the "vigilante'"aspect of this book, I'd have rated it higher. It works out to be 4 stars, taking a half star off because I don't like the end justifies the means law enforcement and the formulaic plot.



Good read, strong characters, exciting well written action. Predictable but likeable. 4 stars.

[Magiccats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey, just wanted you all to know that this book Precipice by Leland Davis is Really Good , like fantastic. Whitewater rafting, navy seals, drug cartel, kidnapping, political deals etc. A main character that is easy to relate to and so real. The action just keeps on coming. This book definitely deserves 5 stars.
Thank you for the free trial. I will definitely be watching for more books by Leland, especially since Chip seems to be enlisted for a new assignment! Love it!.

26 reviews on Amazon (25 gave 5 stars and 1 gave 4 stars) Pretty much says it all!

[Lisa P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book caught my attention, not just because of the action/adventure element, but because I was intrigued by the whitewater rafting component to it as well. Chip is a rafting guide recruited by Navy Seals to assist with a special assignment. Any book with Navy Seals usually has plenty of fast-paced action to hold my attention, and this book did not disappoint. What I loved best however, was the unassuming, unlikely, hero of the story, Chip. What began as an amusing adventure for him, quickly turned into a life and death race across an unforgiving country. The growth of his character throughout the story is impressive at the least. Overall, an incredibly entertaining story that I couldn't put down. Although this was a complete story, it was written in such a way that I do expect another book to appear on the horizon soon.

[Jenifer Mohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this action adventure featuring Chip, a white water rafting guide, who gets involved in an ex-SEAL covert mission in Mexico. This story had corrupt politicians, drug lords, and an assortment of sociopaths with creative sub-plots. Overall, a really good story that once I started I didn't want to put down. I definitely will look forward to reading more by this author.

[Rae Ann Bromfield Norell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is a page turner, with plot twists, and on-the-edge-of-your seat excitement. I also appreciate the author's weaving into the story, explanations of whitewater kayaking techniques and terminology. My son was an extreme kayaker, and got the same kind of thrill and adrenalin rush as described in this book, that the central figure, Chip, gets every time he kayaks a class V stretch of whitewater. It helped me get a glimpse of what goes on in the minds of a whitewater experts as they scout and plan a line to take, and weigh various factors in order to make the best decision about how to run a stretch of river, or whether or not to take the risk. Well written and never a dull moment!

[Heather Fineisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

River rat readers will be partial to this thriller debuting guide extraordinaire Chip and four former SEALS who are trying to take down a Mexican drug cartel before a Senate vote on a transportation bill allowing Mexican trucks less scrutinized entry to the U.S takes place. Good thing that even our fictional congress doesn't get much done in a timely matter.

[Angela Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Love anything to do either the river and kayaking.

[Katie Routh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written. Fairly predictable and a bit more violent than I usually like, but a good story. I like that it's a kayaking book that you could read even if you knew nothing about paddling.

[Jennie Goldberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was entertaining. But I had to give it 3 stars because I really dislike this genre. Only read it because I know the author!