Mirador: a novel

by James Jennings, Gini Kopecky-Wallace (Editor), Robert Lascaro (Designed by)

Overview

Nate Hunter has no desire to visit Chiapas, Mexico. It’s 1993, dawn of the Internet Age, and his star as a brilliant computer engineer is on the rise. He wants to stay put, focus on work. But his wife, Sarah, a dedicated nurse, wants to save the world. Invited to join a mission trip to the village of Mirador, deep in the Lacandon Jungle, she decides she’s going, and Nate won’t let her go alone. He knows the looming enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is causing unrest among the campesinos and the government is cracking down on protests. The pastor leading the trip insists it’s safe, but beneath the surface calm, rebellion is brewing, and an army of peasants calling themselves Zapatistas is preparing for war.

By the time the group reaches Mirador, Nate realizes the trip is a mistake. That evening, Sarah tangles with the leader of a paramilitary group, triggering events that lead Nate deeper into the jungle, to a secret rebel camp, where unforgiving tests and a newfound sense of purpose challenge everything he believes about himself as a husband, lover, fighter, and man.

Honoring the spirit of the ancient Maya and the “war against forgetting” still being waged by los indígenas today, Mirador tells the story of one man’s reckoning with love and loss, friendship and betrayal, courage and cowardice, death and rebirth, as he helps a group of rebels prepare for the Zapatista uprising of January 1, 1994: the first war fought on the ground and the World Wide Web.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990619444
Publisher:	Greenpoint Press
Publication date:	08/01/2019
Pages:	484
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.08(d)

Table of Contents

Prologue: Enough! — 1

Part One: Sarah

1. Going South — 7

2. A Boiling Cauldron — 21

3. Pressing On — 35

4. Masks of Mexico — 53

5. Persuasion — 71

6. Tuxtla — 77

7. The Final Push — 85

8. End of the Road — 99

9. First Night — 115

10. In Dreams Foretold — 127

11. Blood-Red Banners — 141

Part Two: Quina

12. Going Home — 161

13. The House on Lyndon Road — 177

14. The Killing Ground — 195

15. The Jaguar God — 209

16. Baptism — 225

17. Fresh Water — 231

18. La Libertad — 245

19. The Waters of Uncertainty — 261

20. Prelude to War — 267

21. A Door Opens — 275

22. Transfiguration — 285

23. Lost Days —303

24. Maya Blue — 309

25. A Time to Dance — 329

Part Three: El Pitón

26. The Place of Fright — 343

27. Return to Mirador — 357

28. Day of the Dead — 367

29. The Quiet Before — 391

30. The Four Sisters — 397

31. Viewpoint — 419

32. The War Against Forgetting — 441

33. Atonement — 453

Epilogue: Día de Muertos — 461

Historical Note — 465

Selected Bibliography — 467

Acknowledgments — 469

About the Author — 471

Editorial Reviews

“Suspense, appealing characters and interesting historical events create a compelling story that is an engrossing page-turner.” — Sara Orwig, USA Today bestselling romance author of The Forbidden Texan and The Rancher’s Heir

“An exquisitely written, gripping tale of love, obsession and revenge. James Jennings has created memorable characters who pop off the page. You can taste, feel and see the rural Mexican locations where a class war rages, evil thrives and brutal acts are a daily event. Once you pick this book up you’ll have a tough time putting it down.” — Charles Salzberg, author of the award-winning Second Story Man and the Shamus Award-nominated Henry Swann series

“Great tale! Jennings has a terrific feel for how ordinary Americans get in over their heads and how good intentions can lead to bad outcomes. The mountains, the jungles, the people of Chiapas are all beautifully rendered in a captivating saga that makes the little-known story of Mexico’s Zapatista uprising come alive. This one will stay with you.” — Ross Klavan, author of Schmuck and the Independent Spirit Award-nominated screenplay for Tigerland

“Mirador, the remarkable new novel from James Jennings, traces the development of the first ‘internet revolution’ in Chiapas through the intersection of a group of American missionaries and EZLN insurgents. It’s a big story with the narrative dynamics of Robert Stone’s A Flag for Sunrise, the historical complications of Gina Apostol’s Insurrecto, and the persuasive local detail of Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico. Jennings adds a significant voice to American letters.” — Tim Tomlinson, author most recently of This Is Not Happening to You, a collection of short stories

From the Publisher