Maracaibo
by James A. Ciullo
ISBN 978-0-615-29012-6 trade paperback
Publication Date: September 27, 2009
Now available at Barnes & Noble Bookstores

CIA operative Marialena Morales happens upon the ambush of two US Senators in Venezuela. One is killed. The other, Vermont Senator Joe LaCarta, disappears. Everyone blames Venezuela’s anti-American President. As Marialena probes, she bonds with an undercover Venezuelan national police agent. Meanwhile, Vice President Brock Randle mobilizes plans for an invasion. Running for president, he is showcasing his leadership. Only his co-conspirators, a corporate CEO and two CIA rogues, know that the ambush is to frame oil-rich Venezuela and create the rationale for takeover. Invasion frenzy builds in the US. The investigation takes Marialena into Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula, a haven for smugglers, home to a growing Muslim population, and hiding place for the right-wing paramilitary unit really responsible for the Senators’ ambush. As Marialena unravels the deception and searches for LaCarta, she must stay one step ahead or will be made to disappear forever.