by Stuart Woods
I am also most grateful to: my editor Laurie Lister, for her sharp eye and unerring ear, and her assistant, Scott Corngold, for keeping things moving; Michael Korda, for his enthusiasm; my agent, Mort Janklow, his associate, Anne Sibbald, and everyone at Morton Janklow Associates for their faith and hard work on my behalf.
While I received briefings and advice from many people in official positions, they cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of any statement in this novel, or for any view I may have formed and transmitted in the book. It is the responsibility of the novelist to be plausible, not accurate, and I have bent all sorts of information to my own uses in order to tell a story.
Finally, I must apologize to my friend Ben Fuller for borrowing his appearance for my most awful character.
Author’s Note
I AM AWARE THAT WHITE CARGO IS ALSO THE NAME OF A 1942 movie starring Hedy Lamarr and which seems to be chiefly remembered for her deathless line, “I am Tonde-layo,” which, as Pauline Kael says, “. . . served a generation of female impersonators.” It was too good a title to pass up.
There has been a sad side to writing this book, in that things are as bad in Colombia as I have made them out to be—maybe worse—and they don’t look like they’re getting better. Colombia, a country of great natural beauty and kind and lovely people, is under a siege laid down by the drug dealers. One can only hope that the courage of the people and the government will endure until these vermin have been imprisoned or expelled, or until they have exterminated themselves.
I hope one day to return to a Colombia at peace with itself.
Photo © 1999 by Herman Estevez
STUART WOODS is the New York Times best-selling author of twenty novels including Worst Fears Realized, Orchid Beach, Swimming to Catalina, and Dead in the Water. He lives on the Treasure Coast of Florida, on an island off the coast of Maine, and in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
BOOKS BY STUART WOODS
FICTION
Santa Fe Edge§
Lucid Intervals†
Kisser†
Hothouse Orchid*
Loitering with Intent†
Mounting Fears‡
Hot Mahogany†
Santa Fe Dead§
Beverly Hills Dead
Shoot Him If He Runs†
Fresh Disasters†
Short Straw§
Dark Harbor†
Iron Orchid*
Two Dollar Bill†
The Prince of Beverly Hills
Reckless Abandon†
Capital Crimes‡
Dirty Work†
Blood Orchid*
The Short Forever†
Orchid Blues*
Cold Paradise†
L.A. Dead†
The Run‡
Worst Fears Realized†
Orchid Beach*
Swimming to Catalina†
Dead in the Water†
Dirt†
Choke
Imperfect Strangers
Heat
Dead Eyes
L.A. Times
Santa Fe Rules§
New York Dead†
Palindrome
Grass Roots‡
White Cargo
Deep Lie‡
Run Before the Wind‡
Chiefs‡
TRAVEL
A Romantic’s Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979)
MEMOIR
Blue Water, Green Skipper (1977)
*A Holly Barker Novel
†A Stone Barrington Novel
‡A Will Lee Novel
§An Ed Eagle Novel
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 1988 by Stuart Woods
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Simon & Schuster, Inc., Simon & Schuster Building, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4767-0954-3 (eBook)