Ride the Volcano

by Peter Pinney

This is the story of a girl who dreamed of adventure and met a man who lived it. They met in a waterfront bar in Puntarenas, and their first meeting seemed likely to be their last. Little Bit wanted a passage to Panama, and Kappick didn't want a woman aboard, particularly an American woman, and was not tactful in his refusal. But fate has other plans, and before the night was out the Zutalors was slipping stealthily from her moorings, and then heading full speed for the open sea with bullets spitting after her - and Little Bit was aboard. From then on she had adventure enough and to spare, for she found that to travel with Kappick took her into stormy seas d treacherous shoals, among smugglers, primitive Indians, and ruthless criminals, into danger from the violence of the elements and worse danger from the violence of men.
Peter Pinney, as readers of this travel books know, is himself an adventurer and an unconventional traveller on out-of-the-way places; it is not surprising then, that in this exciting story he has captured so vividly both the colour and the perilous undercurrents of life in the lands between the Atlantic and the caribbean.

209 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Peter Pinney (1922-1992) exemplified the idea of the traveler who carries little, gets by on wits alone, and is willing to forage into the unknown despite all odds. He wrote a series of books based on his diaries, the most famous being Dust On My Shoes, detailing his odysseys around the globe.

https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/pa...

http://www.dustonmyshoes.com/Peter.html

https://www.readersvoice.com/intervie...

Reviews

[zed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am an unabashed Peter Pinney fan but this one is easily his weakest so far. I had read that this was based on real life events he was involved in, smuggling out of Panama, so there is an element of biography. Be that as it may, I found it at times all a little unbelievable.

Recommended for the Pinney completest.

[Daren · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Update July 2017:
I have just read on a Peter Pinney website that this book is in fact closely based on his experiences with his first wife Alice. He experimented with a 'novel style' format for this book. Ultimately I don't think it was successful, but still a worthwhile read. I have left my review below as I wrote it at the time.]

I have read couple of non-fiction travel books by this author and loved them. They certainly have an element of embellishment to them, maybe even some fictional outcomes, but they were both very good, and I determined I would pick up any of the authors other work I could find. From what I have found, his works are fairly rare, so I was pleased to pick this one up.
This is a work of fiction, and is set in Central America / Top of South America - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and the main character is clearly based on Peter Pinney himself. It is an adventure story - smugglers, shipwrecks in dangerous seas, contraband, drug shipments, shady characters, unspoilt wilderness, isolated native people...
It is nicely written, the author is clearly quite familiar with this part of the world, as he captures well the atmosphere, the people and the scenery in his writing.
Ultimately, this fiction doesn't reach the heights of his travel literature, but then I had not expected it to do so. Still well worth the read for me.