Ride the Volcano

I am an unabashed Peter Pinney fan but this one is easily his weakest so far. I had read that this was based on real life events he was involved in, smuggling out of Panama, so there is an element of biography. Be that as it may, I found it at times all a little unbelievable.

Recommended for the Pinney completest.

[Update July 2017:
I have just read on a Peter Pinney website that this book is in fact closely based on his experiences with his first wife Alice. He experimented with a ‘novel style' format for this book. Ultimately I don't think it was successful, but still a worthwhile read. I have left my review below as I wrote it at the time.]

I have read couple of non-fiction travel books by this author and loved them. They certainly have an element of embellishment to them, maybe even some fictional outcomes, but they were both very good, and I determined I would pick up any of the authors other work I could find. From what I have found, his works are fairly rare, so I was pleased to pick this one up.
This is a work of fiction, and is set in Central America / Top of South America - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and the main character is clearly based on Peter Pinney himself. It is an adventure story - smugglers, shipwrecks in dangerous seas, contraband, drug shipments, shady characters, unspoilt wilderness, isolated native people...
It is nicely written, the author is clearly quite familiar with this part of the world, as he captures well the atmosphere, the people and the scenery in his writing.
Ultimately, this fiction doesn't reach the heights of his travel literature, but then I had not expected it to do so. Still well worth the read for me.