PANAMA PERTINATE

STRAIT SHOOTER

Today, Blair-Pacific Publishing will feature a guest post. 

Cliff Strait is a political analyst who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica.  He’s been an Ex-Pat for about a decade. He keeps his thumb on the pulse on Central America happenings and is very familiar with Panama because he’s in the process of converting his residency status to move to our fair country.

THE FOLLOWING OPEN LETTER IS A WARNING!!!

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

Those who move to Costa Rica must have more money than brains. They are the ones who have failed to do their due-diligence, as I did.  Unfortunately we are at least 10 years too late to enjoy the best years Costa Rica had to offer.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with an abundance of tourist attractions and activities, but a place to live and work, is all together something else.

For those mega US companies who set up shop here, this is all together another ball game.  These companies can negotiate lucrative tax incentives, which leaves the under paid employees paying the taxes, rather than them.  They are also able to get away with cut cutting measures they are not able to get away with back home.


There are a lot of misleading articles out on the internet these days,  in particular by blogers who primarily make their money off having, relocation conferences, of which they charge a pretty penny for.  Some times they are even tied in with the developers as well.  Then there are the websites put up by developers, real estate agents or scavengers as I like to refer to them as, to bilk you out of your hard earned money.

Most Gringos loose most of their principle they invested in their homes on the resale, because most over pay.  The problem is twofold, there is no multiple listing service, many homes are in corporations, so it is easy to hide the true value for tax purposes, but difficult at best for an unsuspecting buyer to figure out market values.  Then there are the unscrupulous real estate agents who take a listing and add tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands on to the sales price which already includes the commission.  Last but not least, is the issue of getting a clear title, because there are not any real title companies here as we know them to be in North America.

Another difference that stood out for me, since I am from the Southwestern part of the United States is, most homes are built, lot line to lot line, in a country that has a lot of cheap land in comparison to the United States and Canada. You rarely see a city home lot which is approximately 10, 000 square feet here in Costa Rica.

There may be some method to the madness or rhyme or reason to this, it could be for security reasons. It reduces the number of ways to break into a property; in most cases, just from the front, or the back.


Standard of living is an issue for most North Americans. Costa Rica is filthy place for starters. All you have to do is open your eyes to the trash in the rivers and along the sides of many of their waterfalls, in vacant lots, and along the sides of the roads. 

 

Dogs tear into the trash waiting to be picked up because there is no such thing as leash laws, dog catcher, or dog ponds. There is little pride of ownership of their national treasures or for their own country.

One of many stark differences for me, as well as for many Ticos who have lived and worked outside of their home country most of their lives is, all the steel bars over the doors and windows.  This alone should be an eye opening tale tale sign of how unsafe a country is.  One Tico who had retired from working and living in the United States put it best.  He and his wife had the same North American dream of retiring in Costa Rica to live like kings and queens.  While in his medical clinic, he stated, "I feel like I am a prisoner in my own country.  I have to have my home and my business barred up, I can't go home at the end of the day and put on my running clothes and go for a run without feeling unsafe."

You hear about the mosquitoes, malaria, and dengue, but yet they have a built in system to create standing water.  Next time you are in a residential neighborhood, note the 4 inch white PVC coming from the home to the street.  This can be water coming from the sinks in the home or from their showers.  This water can stand in the gutters for the mosquitoes to lay their eggs.  This is the same water that ends up in the near by rivers.  Yes, all the rivers end up dumping into the ocean.  This is happening because they do not want to have to pay to pump water from their septic tanks.


Then there are the poor roads, sidewalks, utilities that do not work consistently.

If you get into a car accident, don’t expect any resolution for at least 6 to 9 years, not months. This holds true for almost any type of court action. If you have any property, it will be in the system for that time frame as well. This means you can’t sell or rent it.

If you get private health insurance, expect INS to reject coverage based on pre-existing conditions.  Oh, you have to pay the bill out of your pockets first, then they decide what they will cover or NOT. 

If it is car insurance, expect INS the government insurance company to use claims as a profit center by rejecting claims based on the poor conditions of the roads, or because of the many speed bumps the government installs here in Costa Rica. Get ready for this, if the car accident is your fault and anyone gets hurt to the point of being  incapacitated for more than 5 days, it becomes a felony case, and you could end up in jail for several years.  This is after you have been paying premiums.  All because your insurance company refused to pay.

The cost of living is the highest in all of Central America, as well as in the United States. The reason is because the government uses import duties as a means of taxation, rather than using duties to protect domestic industries. Plus, Costa Rica is a consuming nation, not a producing nation, so virtually everything is imported.  My understanding is, most imported items pay approximately 40% import duty, then when the consumer goes to purchase the item, they pay an additional 13% more.

Yes, the locals are use to dealing with Gringos, it is called “Gringo Bingo”, this means there is a price for them and a higher price for the Gringos. This is regardless of how well you speak Spanish. If they can tell when a person is from another Spanish speaking country, they definitely know you are not from around here. They get the same treatment as the Gringos.

When my kids came here and saw the schools, it was an automatic rejection. Heck, they do not even have toilet paper, much less paper towels for the kids. The best of schools in Costa Rica look like dumps compared to any of the schools in Arizona.

Sports programs in the school system are a joke. If the schools can't afford toilet paper and paper towels, they surely can't afford sports equipment. If they can't afford these small things, what makes you think they have the money to hire good qualified teachers?  On top of that, the schools have more reasons to be closed than open. This makes it difficult at best to plan your own days, weeks or months. Plus, private schools are not cheap in Costa Rica, you may as well pay the property tax back home, at least you get something for your money.

The Ticos may be happy living under their tin roofs, barred up windows like in a prison, rat and roach infested homes, with sidewalks covered in dog feces. I don’t think the Gringos I know would consider this increasing their quality of life. This is why there is a mass exodus to Panama, Colombia, and other countries, including Europe, even as cold as it is.

Then there are issues like seafood, fish and chicken sitting out in the wide open in Walmart without a sneeze guard. This would not be allowed by any state health department.  This does not address the dumping of rejected products, seconds, slightly damaged or flawed products being sold in trusted stores like name brand stores consumers trust.  Most American brands do not honor warrantees outside the US and Canada.  All of this goes to show how far corporate greed will go if unchecked.

We North Americans take for granted, how the health departments protect us from unseen heath issues such as not allowing restaurants to cook our food in aluminum pots and pans because of the association to Alzheimer’s. Not the case in Costa Rica.

This is why those of us Gringos who have lived here for any length of time, will advise anyone considering moving to any other country, to rent for at least a year before purchasing.

There is a lot of miss-leading if not downright false information being disseminated, mostly for ulterior motives. Beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Cliff Strait

PANAMANIAN POLITICS – TRUTHS, RUMORS, & INUENDO

All the hats are in the ring, all the newspapers and television stations have taken sides, and now us poor smucks of Panama have no idea what is true or false. Spin doctors warp every piece of news to be someone’s fault. 

• The energy crisis caused by THE DROUGHT --a late wet season has to be the fault of the current administration.

• The poor garbage collection has to be the fault of the previous mayor of Panama City.

• The new transportation system snafu has to be the fault of the former vice president.

It goes on and on… ad-naseaum until  mid 2014.  Candidates for most positions in Panama are beginning to become reactionary to every event that makes the news.  Sometimes they are the news. 

I’m really not complaining.  Just stating a few facts in my whine mode.  Panama is a democratic republic.  Therefore the political system is just as corny and corrupt as the USA. But, it’s still a free election with voters, ballots and a degree of privacy.

Panama wasn’t always a true democracy.  Perhaps it still has its flaws but since becoming sovereign (detached) from the USA (since 2000 when the Canal Zone was officially turned back) Panama has enjoyed violence free elections  and representation of the will of the voters. 

In recent times, since the overthrow and arrest of General Noriega, No single party has REPEATED.  Let me explain.  Although there are several political parties, one would think that a NO REPEAT would be a good thing.  After a fashion, it is.  However, there is no consistent civil service program established in Panama.  When a new party takes control, they make a clean sweep; all government employees are subject to losing their jobs and could be replaced by the highly unqualified second cousin of the wife of the mayor’s son whose is illegitimate but still controls the power in a particular district. This is how it seems to work everywhere in Latin America.  Because of this archaic system, the inefficiencies of government and business are mind blowing to foreigners.

   Attempting to get your drivers license renewed after an election is a week-long job because the agent was recently assigned and he/she has no clue of how to do the work and no one in the office seems to know either.  Usually the purge goes right down to the janitor!  

 For North Americans and Europeans, this is extremely frustrating because we’re accustomed to a civil service program that doesn’t change at every election. Panamanians seem to take it in stride.  Perhaps if one of the three major political parties could REPEAT without a political coalition, it would take steps to create and reinforce a civil service program to be exempt from the constantly shifting political winds. This is strictly wishful thinking on my part.  Getting elected in Panama is exactly like getting elected in the USA or anywhere else.  The candidate who wins will probably be the one who can offer the most free stuff to the voters; money, power, or position. (Perhaps a job issuing drivers licenses?)

BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUN! 

I have a good friend who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica who is a political analyst.  Cliff keeps his eye on all manners of events; especially politics in Central and South America.  His audience is the Ex-Patriot community.  I’m confident as we move closer to the Panama elections I can entice him to present his views on my blog. Since most EXPATS are not allowed to vote in their host countries, we need to be aware of what is happening around us.  That’s what Cliff brings to the table; an UNBIASED commentary about issues that may affect our offshore lives. (btw, the photo above is my kid brother, Bill.  The photo was taken at Ft San Lorenzo in 1956 by our dad, Wayne Hatting)

BOOK COVERS – MY WAY

Perhaps my attitude about book-covers is naive and borders on stupidity.  I know it costs me book sales because the 12 novel covers don’t provide the SHOCK AND AWE necessary to lure a prospective reader into the bowels of the book.  In other words I don’t have a HOOK for the BOOK.

Most of my covers are photos that have some significant meaning to me.  Not to the reader or anyone else -- just me. 

 

The Black Fin Sport fishing boat on the cover of MURDER IN PANAMA, has a history.  I had it listed for sale during the time I was brokering boats here in Panama.  The owner is a good friend.  I was in a ponga taking photos of all his boats for sale while visiting a sport fishing lodge.  There is a sportfisher boat in the novel that plays a significant role. 

The lonesome beach on the cover of EX PAT has a history, too.  That photo was taken by me at Playa Zancudo in Costa Rica.  I shared a great day with a wonderful person; it is a delightful beach and depicts the peace I experience living in Central America.

 

The cover of ALASKA BE DAMNED was taken by my father 60 years ago.  Although it was taken in Panama in 1956, the ‘ship gone aground’ defines that novel. It’s my best seller; perhaps because of the cover?

 

The cover for THE LAST FRUIT STAND ON GUAM was also taken by my father.  It shows Tumon Bay without any buildings. (Now, it’s hotel after hotel along that beautiful white sand beach)  This photo I converted to Black and white because the original color had bleached out of the 35 mm slide. It’s not a great photo and a lousy cover for a book that contains so much bawdy humor and drama. But, it depicts how the world has changed.

The covers for PARTNERS, BOOMER, CRYSTAL COWBOY and UNTAMED are photos of paintings by artist, Bill Moomey. Most of those paintings sold for between twelve and fifteen thousand dollars each.  How cool is that?

 

REVOLUTION OF FOOLS has a second choice cover.  It’s of a beach in Puerto Armuelles, Panama.  I took the photo one evening – not a soul in sight.  I had to use that cover to satisfy Amazon.  They wouldn’t allow the original I chose; Gillard Cut by my dad.

The cover for HART RULES is by permission of my friend and talented photographer, Ed Wheeler. His cinematography and B&W photography is top shelf.  I appreciate his talent and the opportunity to use his photograph on the cover of my novel.

Most of the recent covers were created using the photos I took.


 THE JIMMY HART TRILOGY cover is a bamboo hut with a thatched roof that serves as a home for a family working on a farm here in Chiriquí province. I took several photos of their encampment; one which will appear when my novel, TRES PIEDRAS is released. ('soon' says my editor)

The TUCSON TERRITORY cover is a section of a photo of the horse pasture on my old riding partner’s ranch in southern Arizona.

As time marches on and more people read my work, I may change some covers.  Vamos a ver! 

PANAMA PERTINATE -- PANAMA BOATS

Since Panama is surrounded by water; 2 oceans, a canal, and several large lakes, one would assume many folks would own boats. That’s not the case. The majority of the locals can’t afford a boat or have never subscribed to the boater mentality. Many of the people that live in the highlands don’t do the ocean; some can’t even swim.

 

David, in Chiriquí province, is several kilometers away from the Pacific but there is a marina a short distance from my house; in Pedregal.  This river community is considered the GUN AND KNIFE district after hours.  However, it is close (less than 2 KM) to the center of Panama’s second largest city. Although I’ve had a couple of problems at night in Pedregal, I’ve never had a problem during the day.

  

During the high season, many boaters move their vessels downstream from the marina in Pedregal to Boca Chica.  That’s definitely a boating community, as is Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama.

 

Located in Pedregal is a very good boat builder, Tony Bernal.  He services the fishing fleet; providing inexpensive Pongas.  (I represented him as a boat broker many years ago.)  He makes strong boats (pongas mostly -- up to 36 feet in length).

Another boat builder, Rex Hudson, operates out of an area located well past the oil terminal at Puerto Armuelles.  He builds all sizes of boats.  His company manufactures sport fishing boats (DeepSport) up to 40 feet in length & down to 15 foot pongas. (I also represented his company when I was selling boats).  The boats shown in photos belong to Rex.   They are all for sale.  For details, give me a shout. bobhatting@gmail.com.

Both builders will build custom boats.  They also refurbish vessels.  (I’ve seen quite a few on the river that need this service!) 

      

EXPAT BACKSTORY -- PANAMA PERTINATE

PANAMA HOUSING is based on affordability and preference.  Since the Spaniards arrived in the 1500’s, housing in Panama has taken various forms.

 

This is Fort San Lorenzo back in the mid 1950’s.  Photo by my father, Wayne Hatting.

 

This is my place in David.

 

This home is on the back edge of a farm not far from David.

ExPat, BACK-STORY

While commercial fishing  in Alaska, I often sought the warmth of Mexico during the winter months.  Then I got hooked into skiing and didn’t visit very often.  I bought a place midway between Smithers and Fort Saint James in British Columbia and spent my winters on the slopes.  However, once I exited the Alaska fishery scene, I sold my place in Canada and ventured south.   I bought a place near Williams, AZ with my fishbucks.  It was 40 acres in the wilderness.  I started building a self sufficient place off the grid.  I was about half way through the project when I met this guy in Flagstaff that was headed south in his Motor home.  At one time he had fished Alaska, too.  He was a mechanic in Flagstaff and we seemed to hit it off.  He had the nicest girlfriend.  She was sweet & petite – but uglier than homemade soap. She was extremely mercenary. My friend loved her dearly but she had one of those “for rent to the highest bidder”, mind sets.  She saw me as a guy with deep pockets and made her play before we reached our destination of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  I declined her offer and decided for the sake of my friendship, it was time to strike out on my own.  I paid Roy my share of the expenses, grabbed my gear, and stayed a couple of nights in a roadside cantina.  It was ‘bedbug city’ but the food and drink and were good and the waitress was friendly.  I entered a couple of late evening card games and was able to break even for my entertainment.  My waitress friend decided to be my personal tour guide. We made a couple of side trips into parts of the interior not often visited by tourists; I learned firsthand how Tequila was made and my ‘tour guide’ and I lazed around the various hotels on our week-long excursion.  Later, I found a saddle shop of some merit.  I spent hours watching the guys plait rawhide reins and riatas. My guide needed to get back to her village and I needed to start my journey back to Arizona we parted on friendly terms.  I took a series of buses and finally arrived in Puerto Vallarta. Their airport was under repair so most international flights had been cancelled.  I began looking for alternate transportation. Once I had the bus scheduled in my fist I decided to explore the tourist city,

For me -- As usual, the docks of any community are a magnet.  Puerto Vallarta was no different.  From my cowboy background; lariats, reins and spurs being fabricated to the lure of the sirens of the deep.  I walked the docks and finally ran into several statesider couples; four different boats all from the west coast of the USA.  All but one was for sale.  The fourth told me they’d sell if the price was right. So, I decided it was the right place to hear some stories of the sea.  However, most of the tales were about why they were in Mexico. I suspect one of the couples…the one that wasn’t for sale, was on the run from the IRS, an ex-partner or both. Later in the day, a single guy that had his boat on the hook in the harbor joined me for a late lunch and a few beers.  He hailed from Newport, Oregon and we began discovering all the people we knew in common.

Glenn steered his sailboat toward the transient dock at Puerto Vallarta’s downtown marina.  Being hailed by the local yacht broker and told that someone wanted to inspect his boat, Glenn fired the engines immediately and ordered his deckhand, Jimmy, to haul anchor.  This was do or die for Glenn.  He was broke and had to sell the boat soon, or it would be confiscated.  It was all he had left.  Six years of scrimping and saving, putting his life at risk as a deckhand on a leaky, ill equipped drag boat out of Newport Oregon, and two years chasing tuna all over the Pacific coast, had netted him only the boat.  A year earlier he had single-handedly sailed the Northern Yankee from Newport to Cabo San Lucas to keep it from the hands of his creditors. A rough, dangerous, but exciting, passage. 

Two men and a woman were standing on the dock awaiting his arrival.  The taller man, without instruction, took the line tossed by Jimmy and gave him a spring line.  The smaller man caught the stern line and had his boat tied hard and fast with two half-hitches on the dock cleat.  The taller man did the same amidships, and stood ready for another bow-line.  It was apparent to Glenn these guys were seamen.  The beautiful woman was just a spectator; standing back as the men did the work.

I paid him for bed and board and stayed with him on his boat for almost a week. He was headed south.  I was tempted to take him up on his offer to sail to Costa Rica but instead took a series of 3rd rate buses to Mexico City and flew back to Arizona, via Vegas.

My novel, EXPat, was spawned while making the arduous journey from PV to Mexico City. Too much windshield time and too much imagination. Most of the time I was the only one who spoke English and my Spanish was so poor all I had were the thoughts rattling around in my head to entertain myself.  

The plot of ExPat was adjusted when I arrived in the states and read a news story about some poker player getting stabbed and robbed in Las Vegas; he’d taken his winnings in cash to impress some woman.

I set the novel aside and did some exciting things with my life; NOT -- I went back into business.

In 2003 I took a trip to Puerto Vallarta on Southwest Airlines and stayed a week as a tourist.  I flew from there to San Jose, Costa Rica via Mexico City and then on to Golfito, CR to visit friends.  I was able to finalize the ExPat story during this 5 week vacation. What was intended to be a short story ended up with five plot layers -- 80,000 words. 

THE TERRITORY

 

This poster has nothing to do with my volume of ‘period westerns’ except the title.  THE TERRITORY is a pilot for a TV series produced and directed by my friends, Ed Wheeler and Jerry Woods.  Many of the actors in the pilot I’d met when out on the book tour; touting my novel, PARTNERS. The pilot was filmed in the Tucson area; specifically TRAIL DUST TOWN over on the east side. 

Tucson has always had an allure for its rowdy western past.  It seemed to fall out of favor with Hollywood and New York when the recession-depression-slowdown occurred (still going?).  It’s unfortunate that no one picked up the pilot.  Ed Wheeler assures me it is still relevant and available.

BOOK REVIEWS AND PANAMA PERTINATE

PANAMA POWER

Our drought in Panama continues.  We received intermittent showers the last several days so it’s evident that the cavalry is on the way – man your arcs!

My father was one of those Electrical Engineers that were responsible for the electrical power generation in Panama.  Specifically the Canal Zone and all the military basses within. When he took the post in January of 1951, all the electricity for use in the Canal Zone and the two major cities of Panama; Panama City and Colon, was generated by the GATUN POWER PLANT located on the Chagres River.

 

Gatun Dam & Power plant.  Photo by Wayne Hatting, 1953.

 The four generators (3 are pictured) produced 25 cycle power. All appliances in Panama needed to be converted from 60 cycle. This was a major problem for Panama.  Most military bases had back-up generator (diesel) but they produced electricity in 60 cycle…not 25.  My dad was instrumental in developing the interim system that bridged the conversion process. His solution gave him a promotion he never accepted because my mother wanted to return to the USA. He was given a plaque by the PanCanalCo and a watch by the President of Panama. Years later the plaque had been forgotten and lost in one of our moves and he gave the watch to my brother, Bill.

 

Photo of Control room – Pictured is Don Judson, best friend of Wayne Hatting. Photo by Wayne Hatting, 1953 

The following reviews were selected to illustrate the eclectic genre in which I write.  All of my novels receive 4+ and 5 stars. 

MG (

By

USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alaska be Damned! (Kindle Edition)

I've got to say, this book was one of my favorites. Mr. Hatting did a fabulous job drawing me into the story from the very beginning and helping me to "feel" the characters. When you finish a book with the feeling that you have made new friends and that you'd rather hang out with them longer, then the author has done their job! I recommend this book to everyone. As has been the case with the other books I have read by Mr. Hatting, there is a bit of everything sprinkled in for any reader. Truly, truly, a resounding 5 star read!! Two thumbs up!!  

I loved it!! May 7, 2013

I've got to say, this book was one of my favorites. Mr. Hatting did a fabulous job drawing me into the story from the very beginning and helping me to "feel" the characters. When you finish a book with the feeling that you have made new friends and that you'd rather hang out with them longer, then the author has done their job! I recommend this book to everyone. As has been the case with the other books I have read by Mr. Hatting,...Read More

I've got to say, this book was one of my favorites. Mr. Hatting did a fabulous job drawing me into the story from the very beginning and helping me to "feel" the characters. When you finish a book with the feeling that you have made new friends and that you'd rather hang out with them longer, then the author has done their job! I recommend this book to everyone. As has been the case with the other books I have read by Mr. Hatting, there is a bit of everything sprinkled in for any reader. Truly, truly, a resounding 5 star read!! Two thumbs up!!  I loved it!! May 7, 2013

The modern-day cowboys rock! March 22, 2013

I was gifted a copy of UNTAMED by a friend, who probably thought I should read outside my usual genre. Well, it turned out my friends know me well. I read this book in almost one setting. Just like that. I opened it and I couldn't close it until I finished. Then I felt I would love to read some more (luckily this author has more books to offer).

Set in a relatively contemporary background, UNTAMED took me unto the...Read More

I was gifted a copy of UNTAMED by a friend, who probably thought I should read outside my usual genre. Well, it turned out my friends know me well. I read this book in almost one setting. Just like that. I opened it and I couldn't close it until I finished. Then I felt I would love to read some more (luckily this author has more books to offer).

Set in a relatively contemporary background, UNTAMED took me unto the lives of two spirited, down-to-earn cowboys, Curtis and RC. Curtis of course is much deeper than that, having a solidly complicated past reaching out to him, haunting him, offering him no boredom at all. Along with RC, and all the women who could not resist his charming good-natured indifference, I felt fascinated by him, attracted by his personality, curious about his next moves and his ways to deal with the mounting troubles.

The setting was delightfully refreshing! I didn't know a thing about the life of the western locals, all the range owners, and rodeo's rules and laws. Nor was I aware of the gushing life around the Mexican border concerning the cattle and the ways to import it. I drove through some of the mentioned locations while visiting Arizona and Texas, but of course being just a passing by tourist I missed all the action. Through UNTAMED I was able to experience some what I have missed.

I highly recommend this read to anyone, regardless of their usual preference of genre."

Zoe Saadia reviewed UNTAMED.

"Boomer is a hit!" December 7, 2011

Something about Robert Hatting's Boomer, set in the Arizona Territory of the late 1870s, reminds me of the classic tales of Will James. I think it's the way Mr. Hatting knows his way so very well around ranch life, horses and the ways of the old west including its people.

Then there's the storytelling. Boomer is chock full of adventure, robbery, intrigue, and lest I forget...interesting characters. My favorite, besides...Read More

Something about Robert Hatting's Boomer, set in the Arizona Territory of the late 1870s, reminds me of the classic tales of Will James. I think it's the way Mr. Hatting knows his way so very well around ranch life, horses and the ways of the old west including its people.

Then there's the storytelling. Boomer is chock full of adventure, robbery, intrigue, and lest I forget...interesting characters. My favorite, besides Sheriff Henry Boomer, is Wolf, another is Milly, a strong-willed, determined young woman. She'd have to be to survive in this time and in this place. All, even the most trivial characters, are vividly brought to life; no one rings phony. This is a writer who's seen his share of life and living and understands how to communicate that in his novel. Five stars to Boomer.

rings phony. This is a writer who's seen his share of life and living and understands how to communicate that in his novel. Five stars to Boomer.

S. M. Ballard "writer" reviewed Boomer.

 

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