Haiti, 1991. When a violent coup d’état leads to the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, American expat Matt Amaker is forced to abandon his idyllic, beachfront scuba business. With the rise of a brutal military dictatorship and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country’s most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in the chaos–and others are just looking to make it through another day.
Desperate for money―and survival―Matt teams up with his best friend and business partner Alix Variel, the adventurous only son of a socially prominent Haitian family. They set their sights on legendary shipwrecks that have been rumored to contain priceless treasures off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast. Their ambition and exploration of these disastrous wrecks come with a cascade of ill-fated incidents―one that involves Misha, Alix’s erudite sister, who stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S. government humanitarian …
Haiti, 1991. When a violent coup d’état leads to the fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, American expat Matt Amaker is forced to abandon his idyllic, beachfront scuba business. With the rise of a brutal military dictatorship and an international embargo threatening to destroy even the country’s most powerful players, some are looking to gain an advantage in the chaos–and others are just looking to make it through another day.
Desperate for money―and survival―Matt teams up with his best friend and business partner Alix Variel, the adventurous only son of a socially prominent Haitian family. They set their sights on legendary shipwrecks that have been rumored to contain priceless treasures off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast. Their ambition and exploration of these disastrous wrecks come with a cascade of ill-fated incidents―one that involves Misha, Alix’s erudite sister, who stumbles onto an arms-trafficking ring masquerading as a U.S. government humanitarian aid office, and rookie CIA case officer Audrey O’Donnell, who finds herself doing clandestine work on an assignment that proves to be more difficult and dubious than she could have possibly imagined.
Devil Makes Three ’s depiction of blood politics, the machinations of power, and a country in the midst of upheaval is urgently and insistently resonant. This new novel is sure to cement Ben Fountain’s reputation as one of the twenty-first century’s boldest and most perceptive writers.
Ben Fountain paints a vivid description of mid-coup Haiti in this engrossing story of love, political intrigue, and futile searches for long lost riches. The reefs are beautiful, the hospitals gruesome, the extremes a reminder that in times of political instability, circumstances can change drastically, and do, as the characters struggle for power — or learn to live without it.
I expected this book to be a run of the mill spy thriller, but I was completely surprised at how exceptionally good it is. Fountain must have spent a lot of time in Haiti, because the richness and vibrancy of the settings and characters feel like being there.
Set in 1991 immediately after Aristide was deposed, the country is in chaos and warring factions are trying to gain control. Matt Amaker is an American ex pat running a scuba dive operation who is caught in the upheaval and whose life is violently disrupted. His close relationship with a Haitian American brings him into contact with powerful people who use him and his diving skills to try and enrich themselves.
There is of course a tough female CIA agent, numerous Haitian generals and their well armed soldiers, a beleaguered doctor in charge of a run down clinic, a gorgeous Haitian English …
I expected this book to be a run of the mill spy thriller, but I was completely surprised at how exceptionally good it is. Fountain must have spent a lot of time in Haiti, because the richness and vibrancy of the settings and characters feel like being there.
Set in 1991 immediately after Aristide was deposed, the country is in chaos and warring factions are trying to gain control. Matt Amaker is an American ex pat running a scuba dive operation who is caught in the upheaval and whose life is violently disrupted. His close relationship with a Haitian American brings him into contact with powerful people who use him and his diving skills to try and enrich themselves.
There is of course a tough female CIA agent, numerous Haitian generals and their well armed soldiers, a beleaguered doctor in charge of a run down clinic, a gorgeous Haitian English literature major visiting her family while on leave from Brown University, and numerous other mostly oddball characters. The dialog is smart and there is a lot of Creole thrown in, but you don't have to translate it to get what's going on.
The main character here though is Haiti. A dismally poor Haiti that has been exploited over and over again throughout its history. In this story the wealthy Haitians share nothing with impoverished Haitians and divert aid sent from other countries into their own pockets for yachts and palaces. The military and political leaders fight each other for dominance and use weaponized militias to kill and intimidate whichever Haitians annoy them at any particular time. And the U.S. inserts itself everywhere, trying, often unsuccessfully and with disastrous consequences for innocent people, to maintain control.
