The Cordillera

by Luis Rousset

Overview

Jacques Laurent was born in France but brought up by his Argentinian uncle, Ignacio, a bachelor with no children of his own. An estanciero with properties in la Pampa province, closer to Buenos Aires, and in the Santa Cruz province, Patagonia, Ignacio was responsible for instilling in young Jacques his passion for mountains and horses. A graduate from France's most prestigious college, the École Polythecnique, this is Jacque's story of his loves and adventures, a tale of amazing mettle and daring in face of different kinds of dangers and adverse odds. A courage sharpened by the mountain peaks he had to conquer, and the horses he had to tame. From saving missionaries in Central America and rescuing people in the deep Amazon Forest under impossible conditions, the story goes on to fighting a ruthless gang of criminals with activities in France and in Turkey and chasing terrorists in the Middle East. The reader will be fascinated by the tale and will become immersed in the same environments and difficulties faced by Jacques.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665560382
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	05/22/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Luis Rousset is a 1971 PhD graduate in Mineral Engineering from Stanford University. Throughout his career he traveled through the mining areas of Arizona, California and Utah in the United States and in South America , he visited remote areas in Peru during the risky times of the "Sendero Luminoso" and in the Chilean/Argentinian Andes. Driven by his extensive knowledge of different places and cultures, Dr. Rousset only recently began writing novels as a hobby. Dr. Luis and his wife share their time between their home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and an apartment in NYC. They have two daughters, Adriana who lives in NYC, and Anna Luiza who lives in Boca Raton, FL. and two grandchildren. The Cordillera is Dr. Rousset’s fourth novel.

Editorial Reviews

The Cordillera by Luis Rousset-Velho is a very engaging story of adventure, suspense, as well as romance. The story unravels as the sixteen-year-old Jacques Laurent conquers the Fitz Roy mountain with Ignacio, his uncle. Ignacio’s father and Jacques’ grandfather are brothers and were junior officers in the Red Army. They emigrated from Russia to France in the late fifties, to escape from one of Stalin’s purges. Jacques’ grandfather remained in France, while Ignacio’s father went on to Argentina to become a wealthy owner of two estancias. Born in France, Jacques spends his summers on his bachelor uncle’s cattle ranches in the provinces of La Pampa and Patagonia where both share a deep love for horses, cattle, and the mountain ranges around them. Upon their return home, they have an unexpected visitor in Irina, a close family friend from Russia. She will form a deep relationship with Jacques who is her companion during her short but eventful visit. The boy is set to attend the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris where he meets Anne Marie. Upon his graduation, however, he receives an offer that will change his life forever. He will soon find himself on a rescue mission in Nicaragua, taking him to the jungles of the Amazon, the underbelly of Paris and Istanbul, and to the rubble of Aleppo in Syria. This is the story of Jacques’ loves and extraordinary adventures deeply rooted in the spectacular mountain ranges of Argentina.

Luis Rousset-Velho’s The Cordillera lets the reader experience life in an estancia, a horse ranch, or a working cattle ranch in Argentina. It is an interesting life based around horses, hearty home-cooked food, and clinking glasses, beautifully painted with the author’s descriptive style. The first few pages extoll the sport of mountain climbing; the courage and physical demands of reaching, or trying to reach high points in mountainous areas, as well as the joy and thrill of the climb. There is no doubt that the intense physical activity of hiking, rock climbing, and traversing slopes sometimes covered with ice and snow greatly influenced the young Jacques Laurent. What I like most in this novel is its powerful exposition and after the background information on the characters and setting is effectively explained at the beginning, what follows is a fast-paced series of adventures that will leave the reader breathless. The characters are well developed with personality traits that reflect their backstories. Complex like real people, the characters exhibit realistic actions and emotions and are highly relatable to the reader. You will find all the elements of an adventure story in this novel as the storyline takes the protagonist from his familiar everyday surroundings to new and unfamiliar environments. There is never a dull moment as we follow Jacques on his interesting life journey of adventure and romance. Author Luis Rousset-Velho is a master storyteller and The Cordillera is a very engaging read. Highly recommended!

Readers' Favorite - Maria Victoria Beltran

2023-10-25
A young French spy comes of age during his adventures.

Jacques Laurent is not quite 17 years old in the opening pages of this novel, hiking some Argentine mountains with his uncle Ignacio, a local rancher. When they reach the summit and return to Ignacio’s ranch, Jacques meets Irina, the daughter of a friend of their extended Russian family, who says she is passing through the area on vacation. It turns out Irina is an assassin on the run after killing a Russian expatriate. Jacques and his uncle help her escape, and the teen falls in love along the way. Jacques returns to France to start college, and shortly before graduation, he is recruited by a French spy agency. He balances graduate studies with undercover assignments and frequent affairs, with Irina always remaining in his mind. They reconnect several years later and make plans to leave their respective agencies and move to Argentina, where Jacques will take over his uncle’s ranches. Irina disappears, and when Jacques learns that she was captured on a mission, he turns one of his own assignments into a rescue attempt. Rousset’s novel combines standard elements of the spy thriller—battle scenes, conspiracies, a hero who is irresistible to women of all nationalities—with the soulful introspection of a man most at home wandering the mountains, and it generally does so to good effect. There is a distinct element of wish fulfillment, as Jacques falls into bed with nearly every woman who crosses his path (“Fatima listened to me in silence for a few moments before placing her hands on my face and kissing me lightly on the lips”), and the narrative does drag at times. There is some attempt to grapple with the ethics of espionage, and Jacques struggles the first time he kills a person. But for the most part, right and wrong are clearly delineated, and the engrossing book is more interested in exploring the experiences of an individual than broader geopolitical questions.

A thoughtful, engaging espionage tale that propels a young man into adulthood.

Kirkus Reviews