THE BENEFACTOR

by Maria Flores ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1959

This is a novel which is based on an actual event of dramatic proportions which occurred in New York City a few years ago: the mysterious disappearance of a Spanish professor who taught at Columbia University. It does not necessarily follow that a novel will be as dramatically effective as the highly charged situation it deals with; merely telling the facts won't do. The author simply states the case, thinly disguising her characters who never do emerge as believably motivated people. The Benefactor (the Dominican Republic's dictator, Trujillo) ordered the elimination of Dr. Tomas Alfaro who was in political asylum in New York. Hired killers abduct the professor and take him back to the island in a privately chartered plane. It's obvious to the pilot that the professor is not simply ""sick"" but Johnny Daly was not unwilling to take a risk if enough money was involved. Daly, a weakling, is seduced by the agents of the island government into making regular flights and becomes caught up in a whirl of high living in the Caribbean. Finally Johnny too disappears and his young wife engages in a frantic, futile search for his supposed murderers. But there's nothing to be done. The web of the island government, supported by U.S. business interests and universal apathy, extends too far.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION