After reflecting on my experience and many years of scholarly research in anthropology and Mayan culture, I hope to have delivered an absorbing and gripping novel that everyone could read. In the narrative, Paul Desilets, an aid worker, brings to light the importance of civil action–while gripping the audience with the relationship between innocent children and brutal guerrillas’ activities in war-torn Guatemala. Through a morally inspiring message of peace, which is essential for the Mayans and guerrilla fighters amidst a country torn by civil unrest and war, this tale brings forth empathy for all those affected by conflict and violence.
I have described everything in such a way that you feel like you’re there, in your shoes, witnessing firsthand everything the protagonist has experienced. The book is broken down into different sections describing different parts of his life, such as before he became an aid worker or after returning from Guatemala.
Some reviewers have qualified my writing style as engaging and authentic, bringing out all shades of human emotions with such vivid descriptions that readers feel they are on this journey.
They say this book is a compelling look at the complex issues surrounding colonialization and attempts at decolonizing the Maya people around Guatemala. Piché has achieved a genuinely historical fiction masterpiece through compelling imagery and powerful rhetoric. This engaging story will draw you in with its unflinching descriptions and sharply contrast the perspectives of the first-world observer, the desperate communities plagued by guerrilla warfare in Guatemala, and the Mayans. They are only seeking honesty and Freedom.
As the author of this book, I’m delighted to share my story with you. It’s a fascinating account of the real difficulties of serving the poor, an intriguing story that is at once a unique political/cultural history and a page-turning adventure. There are issues of state politics and guerrilla wars, love and hate, beauty and ugliness, humor, compassion, and indifference (to name only a few!)
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
by J. P. Piché
Author, Blood for Freedom: On a Mission among the Mayas
J. P. Piché 