MISSIONARY STEW by Ross Thomas

Finished Th 10/13/16

This is one of my paperbacks that I first finished on Mo 8/18/97. According to the flyleaf I had just been notified that I would begin a two week suspension on 8/19. Wonder what that was all about? I reread the book again and finished on Su 12/26/04. And after reading it a third time, I can definitely see that, on down the line, I will probably visit this novel again. It's very well written and a true lost gem!

It is a satiric political thriller chock full of delightful characters (with crazy names!). I guess the two principle characters are Morgan Citron and Draper Haere.

The book opens with Morgan serving an undetermined sentence in an African prison. He's being held by a President/Emperor who is a cannibal. Right before he's released he is served a stew that contains the flesh of a child. The Pres/Emp also gives him an uncut diamond.

The complicated plot revolves around a shady deal by US policy makers in Central America. The book was written in 1983, at the height of Reagan's America. A multi million dollar coke deal involving a corrupt general and the CIA and the FBI. If this incident was made public, the current US administration would topple.

Exactly what happened in the central American country of Tucamondo is explained on p. 257

Here's a list of characters-
Morgan Citron
Draper Haere
Velveeta Keats
Drew Meade
Craigie Grey
Gladys Citron
B.S. Keats (Byron/Shelley/Keats)
John Yarn/ Richard Tighe
David Slipper ("Slippery")
Jimmy and Bobby Mineras
Baldwin Leatch ("Baldy")
Colonel General Rafael Carrasco Cortez
Bill MacAdoo

2 Running Gags-
Numerous times in the novel characters ask Morgan if the President/Emperor really was a cannibal.

When Draper is told that someone has died of 'heart failure', he always corrects them by saying that, 'everyone dies of heart failure, the correct term is heart seizure'.

I'd recommend this novel to anyone and it is definitely a cut above. Maybe I'll get more by Thomas.

The author's page at wikipedia-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Thomas_(author)