When Pittsburgh attorney Whitehill begins his vacation, he is anticipating a leisurely jaunt across South America. But he gets more than he bargained for when a sightseeing trip goes awry, leaving him stranded in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Whitehill isn’t exactly the outdoorsy type—he hikes in Brooks Brothers pants—so he is relieved when he meets a scientist perusing the jungle for medicinal plants and insects. Of course, the good doctor’s true motives are less than altruistic, and Whitehill soon finds himself being forcibly marched through the rainforest en route to certain death. When he escapes, with the help of some hungry vampire bats, Whitehill falls in with an English-speaking Indian whose tribe is at the heart of a raging land conflict. Trapped in the jungle, Whitehill must gather what little courage he has to stop an Indian war and preserve a vanishing culture from rapacious developers. Along the way, he has a fling with a gorgeous native, narrowly survives being sacrificed to the gods, and is rescued from a bombing by a pair of hard-drinking American expats. A Guest in the Jungle is a smart, engrossing, and uproariously funny novel about the power of one man to make a difference in the world.
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"Great story. Okay writing style. Definitely a page turner. Introduces the reader into a world that few will have the opportunity to experience. I would recommend this to a friend but not because I felt any emotional connection to the book but because the story was interesting."
— Corrinne (4 out of 5 stars)
A thriller that is both frightening and funny—Polster’s impressive ability to evoke the jungle in all its perilous beauty gives the reader a real sense of being there.
— Los Angeles Daily NewsDaring, witty, and intelligently written. With this novel, James Polster moves to the cutting edge of a new crop of young, talented West Coast writers.
— San Francisco Review of Books“An action-packed comedy with blazing insights into life strewn along the trail.
— Cleveland Plain Dealer" Just didn't see the humor or the point in this. Poorly developed characters, weak plot. "
— Colette, 11/8/2013" After reading a bunch of mystery/crime books in a row, this was a fun adventure. I picked it up for $1 during an Amazon Kindle sale, and I definitely got my money worth. "
— Gord, 9/14/2013" A good read for me... "
— Sandra, 9/5/2013" This was a fun read. I could see this becoming a movie some day. "
— Sarah, 3/4/2013" It was ok. It had the makings of a comedy, but the characters weren't very well developed. The ending, while fun, was absurd. "
— Stephanie, 2/23/2013" very funny, very clever story. with an agenda all its own. quite the page-turner. enjoyed it immensely. "
— Lynda, 2/14/2013James Polster hails from Cleveland, Ohio and has worked as novelist, movie producer, screenwriter, explorer, and journalist. After graduation from Tulane University in 1969, Polster hopped a freighter for Spain and eventually settled in Tangiers. He returned to the United States to attend graduate school at Columbia and Harvard. Beginning in 1973, Polster explored the Amazon rainforest on several trips, spent time in the jungles of Irian Jaya with cannibals in 1989, and both covered and played in the World Championships of Elephant polo for Sports Illustrated in Nepal in 1991. Polster is a National Fellow of the Explorers Club. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his son Nick.
David Doersch has delighted audiences with various roles on stage, film, and recordings for more than twenty-five years. He has worked some of the most prestigious theaters in America, including the Guthrie Theatre, the Dallas Theatre Center, the American Players Theatre, and the Virginia Stage Company. He has recorded dozens of cases for Audio Case Files, worked in film and television, and has toured as a musician.