Regular marked price: $15.00Discount Price: $11.70
Cost Savings: $3.30 (22%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780812974119
ISBN number: 0812974115
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 496
Printing Date: January 08, 2008
Publishing house: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: January 08, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 381141
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Chuck Pfarrer’s acclaimed Warrior Soul has been called one of the finest memoirs of modern Special Operations Forces. Now the decorated Navy SEAL makes his dazzling fiction debut with this gutsy, riveting thriller about the action-packed hunt for history’s most infamous rebel insurgent: Che Guevara.
The year is 1967. Paul Hoyle, a CIA paramilitary officer, has resigned from the agency an incident in Laos that left one man dead and Hoyle’s face scarred by gunshot. But Hoyle is soon drawn back into the agency’s fold, finding himself a “fallen angel,” an independent contractor the U.S. secretly sends to global hot spots.
Bolivia, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is a nation ripe for Communist infiltration and revolution. So the stage is set for a duel between world ideologies, with players from Washington to Moscow to Havana. After a Bolivian army unit is disastrously ambushed, Hoyle is dispatched to South America by a CIA concerned that another Vietnam may be in the works. With Cuban-sponsored guerrillas afoot and a corrupt Bolivian military opposing them, Hoyle finds the jungle a treacherous place where honor and morality are surrendered to the basic business of survival.
Though Che Guevara, the charismatic revolutionary who helped Castro take hold in Cuba, is believed to have been killed in the Congo–or executed by Fidel himself–a rucksack recovered after a deadly gunfight suggests that the Marxist rebel may be heading up this new, highly effective insurgency.
World-weary Hoyle draws ever nearer to the passionate revolutionary, as a struggle between worldviews is fought with automatic weapons in steamy jungles, veiled threats in government offices, and even exchanged secrets in hotel bedrooms–for at the center of this intense cat-and-mouse game are two captivating women who may hold the keys to these men’s destinies. Tania Vünke is Guevara’s crucial undercover operative and occasional lover, a conflicted woman with secrets entrusted to her by Guevara himself. And beautiful Maria Agular is the elegant mistress of the Bolivian minister of information, a tormented soul whom Hoyle dares to trust with both information and his heart.
Terrorism expert Chuck Pfarrer packs this electrifying plot with insider knowledge of intelligence tradecraft. Populated with powerfully drawn characters, Killing Che is a stunning re-creation of a conflict that sealed the fate of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial and complex political figures–a man whose renown continues to grow decades after his violent end.
From the Hardcover edition.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Bolivia, 1967: Paul Hoyle, an ex-CIA paramilitary with experience in Laos, Vietnam and various Latin American hot spots, is now employed as a "contractor." The problem? A dangerously effective group of rebels, perhaps Communists infiltrating from Argentina, have ambushed and destroyed a government convoy traveling in a more than usually inhospitable and poverty-stricken part of central Bolivia. The CIA, in an all-too familiar role, protecting multinationals and propping up a corrupt but pro-American regime, are immediately interested. When it becomes clear that this is not a home-grown operation, but is led by the formidable, charismatic Che Guevara, their interest turns to passion. KILLING CHE is a gut-wrenching tale of espionage, betrayal and military adventure. Terrifying firefights and numbing slogs through jungle feel like the real thing. What makes this novel exceptional--besides the author's brilliantly evocative descriptions of land and people--is the effortless telling from multiple POVs. Besides the burned-out career soldier Hoyle, there is Tania, an East German/Cuban triple-agent and one time lover of Guevara's. There are many other characters, too, all complex and fully realized. The masterstroke, however, may be the portrait of the heroic true believer, Che Guevara. The author, Chuck Pfarrer, has two earlier novels and several successful action screenplays to his credit, but it is his resume as an ex-Navy SEAL (as well as the mountains of research that so obviously went into this novel) that make him absolutely qualified to handle his subject. Don't miss this one, or start it at night, as I did. KILLING CHE is almost impossible to put down.
Rated by buyers 
-
Contrary to other reviewers, I found this very boring and personally did not care for the assertion that Che is a hero. I have read a bit on Che and agree he is the type of guy you want on yur side in a fight, however he is ruthless and a stone cold killer. The books main character comes to the conclusion that the US involvement in Bolivia is wrong yet the ruthless killer who has come to start a revolution there is morally respectable. Che personally executed people who he suspected as traitors with no trial. He invaded 3 countries that were not his own to start revolutions. he felt no compassion towards those who cared for him, he felt only hate for his enemies. If you doubt these facts, read an actual non fiction book on the man. Reading a fiction book where a hard core CIA operator feels compassion for this man is plain silly.
Aside from the political issues, I found that there was far too much time spent on non essential characters. By the end of the book I had forgotten why X person had a vendetta against person Z, why certain characters were even introduced, who was a CIA man ad who was with the Green Berets... etc. There is very little action in this book, I believe there were only three shoot outs involving the revolutionaries and nothing much else even memorable with the other characters. Yet much time is dedicated to discussing a barely essential characters past love life with Che, her present feelings, her outlook on the future.....
I must have read a different book than the rest of the reviewers because I think this is barely readable. If it was not for my interest in the subject, I would have put it down after the very first 200 pages.
Rated by buyers -
This was simply one helluva good read. Using mostly factual material, Pfarrer spins a yarn better than Harold Robbins did in his peak years in books like "The Carpetbaggers" and "The Adventurers." That's saying something, but it gets better. Not only does he breathe life back into the legendary revolutionary, Che Guevara, but I'm betting the farm that his fictional hero, Paul Hoyle, will one day be mentioned in the same breath with Hemingway's heroes, Robert Jordan and Frederic Henry. Hoyle is made that real, and the ill-fated affair with his own Maria will surely touch the hardest of hearts. Hoyle is a character worth remembering, and perhaps re-visiting. Pfarrer has taken history and turned it into lasting art. Bravo! - Tim Bazzett, author of "Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA"
Rated by buyers -
Wow...thank you Chuck. This is the kind of book that leaves me feeling "not ready to leave these people." Where I slow down near the end to hold on a little longer. I learned alot about Che and revolution and reasons for them. I'm a new fan of Chuck Pfarrer. Virginia
Rated by buyers -
In this masterful very first novel, Pfarrer has lifted the doomed revolutionary to heroic proportions, a man who will die for his beliefs. Che's integrity is paralleled by the fictitious character of American spy Hoyle, his alter ego, whose musings tie the story together, and whose final conclusion - war is useless hell! - is shared by most readers.
Che (1928-67) understood this too but his iron-will brooked no retreat. Abandoned by all his allies, including Russia and Cuba, Che still hoped to convince the Bolivian pauper peasants of the necessity of fight. Their stupor is indicative of the axiom: it's better to live in a known hell than the unknown future.
The book is a feast of ideas and history. Subplots include wonderful love stories. Torture scenes are handled extremely well. No gratuitous violence.
This novel will take the reader back to the '60s, an exciting time in the history of the world and light years away from today's disgraceful America under the realm of a president/dictator who, like all dictators, maintains his power through fear. If the 35-year-old Che had triumphed in Bolivia would he have been as ruthless as his predecessors?
Can't wait to read Pfarrer's subsequent novel. In the afterward, he lists a dismantled website for the book. Again, this is an exemplary book of historical fiction and I am a forever fan.
Find other books like this one:
