BEASTS OF THE FIELD

In Wilson’s thriller, an American photographer travels to Central America and is drawn into the region’s violent internal conflicts.

Robert Ellis is only 28 years old but already exhausted by the pressures of life—he’s haunted by the death of his mother from cancer and dogged by the gruesome memories of the war he covered in Afghanistan. Moreover, he’s depleted from leading a nomadic life; his peripatetic wandering has taken its toll on the relationship with his girlfriend, Kara. The author sensitively captures Robert’s premature weltschmerz: “It dawned on him that he never actually knew what he wanted, other than to keep shooting, and to keep traveling, and to have his photos published. Maybe something had changed in Afghanistan, he thought.” He is presented with an unusual offer—someone impressed with his photography wishes to purchase some photos for a considerable sum of money. To close the transaction, he must fly to Nicoya, a war-torn city in Costa Rica. It is hard to understand why it is necessary for Robert to make such a journey in order to sell digital photographs; he makes the trip anyway, and meets the buyer, Janvion Garcia, a powerful jefe who presides over an army of rebels, apparently backed by the United States. Garcia intends to use Robert to demonstrate his brutality—he plans to murder him—but Robert escapes, doggedly pursued by Garcia’s henchmen, including an elite American agent, Hull. There are some minor narrative missteps on Wilson’s part—Robert takes a stray puppy he befriended with him as he goes on the run, a ridiculous decision that feels like a cloyingly manipulative authorial device. However, the plot is thrilling, and Robert’s improbable struggle to survive is artfully made to seem quite plausible. Also, Wilson constructs a fascinatingly complex portrait of the protagonist, disillusioned by life so early on and compellingly juxtaposes that discontent with the sordidness of political life.

An engrossing novel filled with political and psychological insight.