Nature, Spirituality and Illegal Gold Mining

Nature, Spirituality and Illegal Gold Mining: Welcome to the Amazon, Chad Vegas, Amazon.com Services LLC, 2019

Part of a series, the narrator is living in the Amazon jungle in present-day Peru. He is occupying a piece of land, on which marijuana is grown, for Max, the owner of the whole operation.

Along with a couple of local men assisting in holding the land, the narrator faces many battles. On one hand, he has to watch for illegal, scorched earth, gold miners, who have no problem with killing anyone who gets in their way. Along with the always-encroaching jungle, there are also squatters on the land, who will not go quietly.

Max, who is arriving soon, wants Chad, the narrator, to go through the police, and legally remove the squatters. Chad learns, through experience, that Peruvian police don't just have a laid-back attitude, they actively don't want to work without appropriate bribes. They treat squatter removal day as a joke. Several of the police spent the previous night drinking, then show up very hung over.

As a young man with a very active libido, Chad travels to Cusco, the nearest big city, every month or so, to satisfy his sexual needs. He has a couple of women that he calls whenever he is in town. As long as their boyfriend/sugar daddy is away, they are more than happy to have sex with Chad. He already has a bad ulcer, from excessive drinking, and he is very familiar with cocaine. This leads to a practically non-stop alcohol and drug-fueled sex binge, from the time he arrives in town until he has to return to the jungle.

This is certainly not a boring book; it will keep the reader interested. The author has, justifiably, been compared to Hunter S Thompson. There is lots of really good writing, along with lots of drugs, alcohol and sex, so it is not for the faint of heart. Other than that, it is very much worth reading.