Wylie Cypher, suffering from a mid-life crisis decides to challenge fading youth by trekking across the Cordillera Blanca (White Mountains) of the high Andes in Peru with his daughter, Mercy, just graduated from college. It is 1981.
Mistakenly, he acquires documents that contain explosive and damning evidence of the Peruvian government's extreme interrogation techniques. A series of misunderstandings precipitate a heart-pounding chase across the high mountains by two sets of villains - government thugs and members of the communist guerilla Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Combat in the thin air of the mountains, deceptions of many sorts, hairbreadth escapes, torture, action in underground caves populated by mummies, and unexpected plot twists fill the book's pages.
It is in America's interest to observe this growing communist threat in its own hemisphere, so the CIA is involved. While Wylie and his cohorts are running for their lives, the author also reports on international smuggling of historical artifacts, the fate of a 600 year ole child mummy, and the ancient spirit of the mountains, Pachamama.
Themes examined are: how a dysfunctional government and an increasing gap between rich and poor lead to anarchy, don't screw with Mother Nature, and there's nothing like being tortured and shot at to overcome a midlife crisis.