THE AMAZON CONSPIRACY

In Philips’ novel, a disgraced researcher, tasked with guiding filmmakers to a cave, finds himself in deep danger.

Henry Foster, formerly “an ambitious scientist” researching rainforest fragmentation, is now an assistant to his former peers in Alto Rio Negro Indigenous Territory, Brazil. Although he’s reluctant to serve as a guide for a visiting film crew, he gives in and takes the newcomers—Aidan Green, Clare Andersen, Bill Powers, and Liam Nguyen—to “one of the most beautiful places” he’s seen in the area, a cave deep in the Amazon rainforest. After they wrap up filming, Clare suggests heading to an abandoned iron mine that Henry mentioned; the group splits up, and Henry takes Clare and Bill to see the mine. Once they get to the site, they’re surrounded by soldiers, but the gunmen’s boss is in plain clothes, and it’s clear that something odd is going on. Henry and his companions must think quickly to have any hope of escape. The novel tells an engaging tale and picks up the pace once the characters are captured, and they use their knowledge, strength, and skills to look out for one another and avoid their enemies. They’re also on the brink of dehydration, and no one is guaranteed to make it out alive. Even though the novel starts slowly, it’s always easy to follow, and Philips does a good job of generating moments of tension and entertainment. He also makes sure that, like the main characters, readers are kept in the dark about who’s trustworthy and who isn’t. Henry is a likable sort and has an impressive amount of self-awareness about his fears, mistakes, and worries. Most of the other characters, however, are underdeveloped and serve only to move the story along; a bit more information about secondary characters’ backgrounds might have made the novel even more compelling.

An often diverting story that takes readers on a survival adventure.