John Dillon stepped off the plane to become a better man. He didn't know love, loss, and revenge waited for him.
When John Dillon abandons an unfulfilling job on Wall Street, the Peace Corps sends him to a muddy mountain village in Panama where flesh-eating disease, homegrown dope, and a balding dog become his closest companions. Before long, however, John falls for Elena – a starry-eyed idealist with a strict Mormon upbringing and a startling past. John and Elena travel long distances in handmade canoes and rusted-out buses to share a precious night in the capital. And just as they adapt to their new life, their love is jeopardized by savage violence.
The Peace Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. ABC News recently reported that 1,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have been raped or sexually assaulted in the last ten years and the Peace Corps' response has been woefully inadequate. In May 2011, the United States Congress held hearings to investigate this matter. My book addresses this issue, albeit in a novel.
Please read the articles and watch the video in the links below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11corps.html?_r=1&hp
www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/peace-corps-gang-rape-volunteer-jess-smochek-us/story?id=12599341
www.abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55106741/2020-114-scandal-inside-the-peace-corps
ARALEN DREAMS is a work of mainstream fiction inspired by personal experiences.
Complete at 71,000 words.