Darwin's Secret: A Novel of the Amazon

by Richard Hoyt

A surreal trip down the exotic Amazon in search of gold and a magic icon turns up a lost Utopian colony of Europeans, a group of god-doctors who heal with leeches, and other unnerving surprises

322 pages, Hardcover

First published June 27, 1989

About the author

The author of 27 mysteries and thrillers, I’m a former army counterintelligence agent, newspaper reporter, Newsweek writer and college professor with a PhD. in American studies. The New York Times included four of my titles on its annual notable books list. My novels include 10 John Denson Pacific Northwest mysteries and 10 James Burlane international thrillers. My John Denson mystery 30 for a Harry was nominated for a Shamus by the Private Eye Writers of America and Siege won the American Mystery Award for best espionage novel. The French publisher Gallimard published Trotsky’s Run as a Serie Noir best-of-the best title. I’ve been widely published in British commonwealth countries, France, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Japan and Germany.

Reviews

[Chris Dawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love fish, I love the amazon, I love books about legends - this book had all three.
This book however is one of the worst, if not THE worst book I've ever read.
How this author even got this published is beyond me.
Worst plot, worst characters, and certainly the worst ending.
This read like a journal of someone's amazon river cruise vacation with acid induced fantasies thrown in as an attempt to make things more interesting.
Avoid this book like the plague!

[Nick Lenco · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have made a good supernatural thriller or horror novel. The book had a strong, solid pace for that type of story. In a way there was an element of the supernatural but it, and the climax in general, ended up being banal. I ultimately did not have enough invested in the characters to care about what happened to them so the ending did not matter to me. The whole plot(s) was thin and the more interesting aspects of it were introduced too late. Part of the problem was that there was no definite protagonist so the story was not about anyone in particular and part of the problem was that there was no definite plot so the story was not about anything in particular (at least not about anything that came across as exciting). The writing was good in general and I was kept involved waiting for something exciting to happen but, when the excitement came, it was too little, too late and all I had invested in the story was my time. Overall all I think it was a pretty well written book from a technical perspective based on a concept or two that were not enough to carry the novel.

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure if there is a sequel to this novel but I would definitely want to read one. This was a great read—enthralling, fun, absurd, and profound, all at once.