Blending fact and fiction, Colombiano takes us on a heart-thumping journey into the violent and unpredictable world of post-Pablo Escobar Colombia, from the author of the international sensation Marching Powder.
When Rusty Young was backpacking through South America, fate drew him to Bolivia and the notorious San Pedro Prison where he met and befriended the charismatic drug-smuggler Thomas McFadden.
He remained in Bolivia to write Thomas’ story – a book that became the worldwide bestseller Marching Powder.
After its publication he moved to Colombia where he was exposed to the very best and very worst the country had to offer.
Of Rusty’s seven years living in Colombia, four were spent working for the US government in counter-terrorism. He was part of a team that trained local police, military and SWAT teams in kidnapping response and hostage rescue.
At the time, Colombia had an average of 8 kidnappings a day. It was a role fraught with danger and Rusty moved house 11 times, drove a bulletproof vehicle and kept his true work completely secret.
Rusty’s job brought him into contact with an array of people: special forces soldiers, snipers, undercover intelligence agents and members of two vicious terrorist organisations – the FARC and Autodefensas.
Through his interactions with them he became aware of the plight of child soldiers.
After interviewing many of these children and hearing their stories, he became involved with a local charity that aimed to help them establish lives outside of the illegal armed forces, and assist with their recovery from the trauma they had experienced.
For some, this included relentless physical and emotional abuse and being forced to participate in combat and carry out executions.
Colombiano, Rusty’s first novel, is the powerful tale of a fifteen-year-old boy, Pedro, who joins an illegal paramilitary group after his father is brutally executed in front of him and he is banished from the family farm by FARC guerrillas.
Swearing vengeance, he vows to find and punish the men responsible.
As he spirals deeper into a world of unspeakable violence, Pedro finds himself at a crossroads: will he be able to stop himself before he becomes too much like the men he is hunting? Or will his obsession with revenge cost him all he has left?
Haunting, gripping and poignant, Colombiano is destined to provoke, enlighten and utterly captivate.
Not only a riveting coming-of-age novel, it is also an insight into the dark side of Colombia and example of the redeeming power of love.
