Accidental Evils

by Steve Dimodica

Isabel Finley, a beautiful college student, is taking a trip to South America. The vacation is a reward for achieving honor roll. But Izzy has also decided to use the trip to research her senior thesis. Her subject is the Dirty War, a tempestuous and difficult time in the history of South American politics. Unknown to Isabel, a network of former military men still covet power. Now however, they have different secrets and a lucrative business to protect. Izzy and her roommate stumble into a criminal conspiracy with huge international implications. The girls become expendable. Enter Calixto Lozen, Izzy's half brother. He is a Special Forces trained soldier with unique tracking skills. Cal embarks on a mission to locate and save his sister. The circuitous path winds a trail from Santiago, to Buenos Aires, to Washington DC as each twist in the journey exposes another buried secret -- evil mysteries that are unwelcome to the light of day.

Genres: Fiction

422 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2017

About the author

Steve Dimodica was born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts. The second of six children, he grew up in a suburban neighborhood with many young families having the dual focus of school and sports. After college ( B.S.) and graduate school ( M.S.) , Steve joined the Army with the intent of exploring foreign countries before settling into a domestic career. He found a greater challenge.
Steve spent the next 20 years on Active and Active Reserve duty in the U.S. Army Special Forces and Military Intelligence. Following three mission deployments to North Africa where he served as a Weapons Leader and Medical Specialist on a Special Forces A Team, he received a Direct Commission as a Military Intelligence Officer.
For the next fourteen years, Steve had numerous mission deployments to Europe and Central America, serving as both a Counter-Intelligence Officer and a Detachment Commander on Special Forces A Teams.
Steve lives in the Philadelphia area with his family.

Reviews

[Kat Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ACCIDENTAL EVILS by Steve Dimodica
Accidental Evils is one of those books that keep you up at night reading. Steve Dimodica uses his expertise as a former Military Intelligence Officer and Detachment Commander on Special Forces A Teams to weave a tale around the Dirty War of Argentina and South American politics that is informative and compelling. His use of fictional characters, Isabel Finley, her roommate, Sandy and her half-brother, Calixto Lozen, a Special Forces soldier, take the reader from Tuscan to Santiago to Buenos Aires to Wahington, DC as Calixto searches for the kidnapped young girls. With each chapter, the reader is brought deeper into the political conspiracies and illegal activities that arose during and after the upheavals in South America during the time of the war and still have far reaching implications in the present.
Well-written and thought provoking, the novel underscores with every turn of the page the dangers of a government with unchecked power allowed to operate through brute force. It’s not only a history lesson, it’s a warning about the consequences and dangers of power gone awry – the sad story and aftermath of a government that disappeared citizens for disagreeing with its political leaders.
Accidental Evils reminds us of the evils of the past, and how easily the innocent can become victims of evil. It’s a timely book that educates the reader about real world events. Having studied some about the history of the Dirty War, I found the book a fascinating read with believable fictional characters and a chilling plot.

[Hayley Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Isabel Soto Finley and her friend travel to Chile to research her senior thesis, they have no idea the chain of events they’ve begun. Within weeks they have been kidnapped by a secret organization and begin a harrowing journey through Chile and Argentina, suffering terrible abuses at the hands of their captors. What the criminal organization doesn’t know is that Isabel’s Special Forces trained brother is hunting them, and he won’t stop till he gets his sister back. This novel is incredibly well written, weaving together believable characters, fascinating historical details, and heart pounding action. Isabel is head strong and smart enough to not completely fall apart when she is kidnapped, which is nice to see in a female character. Calixto goes after his sister, using all his military connections and skills, and is able to be a fascinating character on a one-man mission without going too Rambo. The novel reads a little like a literary version of the movie Taken, but with a younger, biracial Liam Neeson and a lot more historical backstory and government corruption. Initially, it can be a little hard to follow since there are several seemingly unconnected storylines running parallel. But once the action really starts, the separate plots begin to make sense, and leave you unable to put the book down.

[Barred Owl Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

sabel Finley, a beautiful college student, is taking a trip to South America. The vacation is a reward for achieving honor roll. But Izzy has also decided to use the trip to research her senior thesis. Her subject is the Dirty War, a tempestuous and difficult time in the history of South American politics. Unknown to Isabel, a network of former military men still covet power. Now however, they have different secrets and a lucrative business to protect. Izzy and her roommate stumble into a criminal conspiracy with huge international implications. The girls become expendable. Enter Calixto Lozen, Izzy's half brother. He is a Special Forces trained soldier with unique tracking skills. Cal embarks on a mission to locate and save his sister. The circuitous path winds a trail from Santiago, to Buenos Aires, to Washington DC as each twist in the journey exposes another buried secret -- evil mysteries that are unwelcome to the light of day.

[Viga Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a bit difficult getting into Accidental Evils as Dimodica uses an unusual approach to telling a story, jumping around a bit as he sets the scenes and introduces the key characters, thankfully in short chapters. But once you get the hang of what he's doing, this book takes off like a rocket ship and there's no turning back to earth till you've reached your destination...that final page that gives you one last surprise. What a captivating read about one sibling hell-bent on saving his half sister and her room-mate from a life of prostitution and trafficking by a ruthless, narcissistic sociopath with guns and guards ready to hunt and kill at the snap of his fingers. There's lots of intrigue, hidden agendas, military secrets and cover-ups, along with murder, mayhem and drugs changing hands in Accidental Evils, but between it all, Dimodica reminds readers that love and peace are something money can't buy. Great read!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a compelling thriller. Once I started it I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the way the plot was woven together by seeing it through the eyes of the different characters . It was really interesting to see how all the pieces of the plot fit together as the story progressed.

[Ann Theis]

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