The Caiman of Inquitos Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Author Marketing Experts in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been awhile since I read an action-packed thriller. I enjoyed the ones by Clive Cussler and Brad Thor, so I wanted to try a new author, or in this case, two. Today’s review is The Caiman of Iquitos by Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes aka Bayard & Holmes. It’s a part of the “Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers,” and it’s enjoyable due to its characters, plot twists, and environment.

The Caiman of Iquitos is the third book in the “Apex Predator Espionage Thrillers” series. Former CIA Operations Officer John Viera is doing his best to lead a normal life and start a family, but fate has other ideas. When a Russian ship is mysteriously torpedoed off the coast of Peru, untracked enriched uranium is found in its cargo. The US President, wanting to protect his multi-billion dollar business interests, blocks agency investigations into the incident. Instead, top intelligence officials call John and his team of former operatives to uncover the new player on the nuclear chessboard. They are the only ones who stand between international security and the Caiman of Iquitos.

Although it’s the third book in the series, The Caiman of Iquitos can easily be a stand alone. While it certainly made some possible references to the previous titles, it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the novel.

I really enjoyed the characters in the book. Each has a distinct personality. For example, Angelina is a strong, confident woman and is the only female member of the operatives team. She butts heads with John a lot, yet she can be vulnerable, especially when something tragic happens on the mission. There’s also John Viera. At first, he might seem like every other CIA officer that one may find in a spy novel, but there’s more to him. He wants to live a normal life, yet his wife leaves him at the beginning of the story. Soon, he finds out that she’s pregnant with their child. Throughout the novel, John wonders why he’s on this assignment when he should be at home trying to repair his marriage and to be the best father he could be. In all of the action/adventure spy thrillers I’ve read, I’ve never encountered something like this before.

While the plot follows a similar structure to that of a Cussler tale (one main plot and two subplots), the twists are unique. One involves Heung – a North Korean spy – trying to get the uranium for his motherland, and he “promises” a guerilla group in Peru that he will help them find their leader and get them out of prison in exchange for the metal. It’s super hilarious when they finally locate that leader. There were some plot twists that I almost missed because I was mostly reading it while I was in bed about to fall asleep. I know that I said I wouldn’t do that after reading Nighthawk by Clive Cussler, but I did. I apologize. Now, I know for real not to read an espionage thriller right before I go to bed.

What stood out to me the most was the environment. I’m not just talking about how Bayard and Holmes describe the jungles in Peru, but also the realistic political atmosphere in which the operatives have to work with. The whole reason why they are on that mission is because the current president doesn’t want citizens to find out about his own personal business endeavors (does that sound familiar?). As a result, the tension is high during the sections involving the intelligence officials and the leader of the free world. Even the head of intelligence tells one of the officers to do what they can to find the uranium culprit by whatever means necessary, even if that means committing something illegal. Brad Thor would be very proud.

Another thing that stuck out was the Truth or Fiction section that follows the end of the book. The title is self-explanatory. Additionally, it reveals some of the liberties that the authors took while crafting this story. I didn’t mind this because the environment was grounded in reality, and some details had to be eschewed to move the plot forward.

The Caiman of Iquitos by Baynard & Holmes is a fun action spy thriller. The book is enjoyable with its distinct characters and plot twists. What impressed me the most was the tense, but authentic environment the operatives have to work under for their assignment. I would recommend this book for those who have read the previous titles in the “Apex Predator” series as well as readers who have consumed Clive Cussler and Brad Thor. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to read more Apex Predator thrillers.

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