White Passage: Red Sun

MWSA Review

Intrigue, suspense, and myriad challenges lead the reader into the dark world of the Peruvian drug cartel during the late 1980s.  In White Passage; Red Sun, all players seemingly try to balance their training and principles with an ongoing ethical dilemma in a land where race and politics converge and collide.

In his novel, Matt Rowe masterfully creates an all-too-real description of our Special Forces at work against a seemingly unwinnable war on drugs.  Rowe skillfully captures his audience by creating a work worthy of a realistic military history book.

Matt Rowe's White Passage; Red Sun kept me up past my bedtime and captivated me throughout my day until his last sentence was read.  I look forward to experiencing his next published work

Reviewed by: Sandra Linhart (2015)

Author's Summary

February 1989. Captain Brian Halloran and his Special Forces team deploy to a remote jungle valley in Peru to establish a base for training elite Peruvian counter-narcotics police. Not only are they threatened by violent narco-traffickers, but they face possible attack by the ruthless Shining Path insurgents operating in the valley. Making matters worse, they quickly realize that powerful political forces may be conspiring to ensure their mission fails.

A brilliant young guerrilla leader, Comrade Olivario, commands the most lethal force the insurgents have ever fielded. He must establish the Shining Path as the preeminent political power in the valley, and to do this he must eliminate every threat—including the Green Berets. The stakes are high, and Olivario's plan will not only decide who controls the valley, but very likely the fate of the woman he loves.

Straight from the headlines, White Passage: Red Sun details the motivation behind US involvement in the drug war, and accurately describes the tenuous relationship between the drug Cartels and various terrorist insurgencies. The exciting story explains the powerful influence of global political events on the “drug war” and exposes the inner workings of one of the most misunderstood conflicts of our time.