Ecuador is in the northwest part of South America:
Here's the summary:
In the squalid settlement of Poso Wells, women have been regularly disappearing, but the authorities have shown little interest. When the leading presidential candidate comes to town, he and his entourage are electrocuted in a macabre accident witnessed by a throng of astonished spectators. The sole survivor—next in line for the presidency—inexplicably disappears from sight.
Gustavo Varas, a principled journalist, picks up the trail, which leads him into a violent, lawless underworld. Bella Altamirano, a fearless local, is on her own crusade to pierce the settlement's code of silence, ignoring repeated death threats. It turns out that the disappearance of the candidate and those of the women are intimately connected, and not just to a local crime wave, but to a multinational magnate's plan to plunder the country's cloud forest preserve.
One issue I'm running into right now is the limits of book availability. I'm pretty much just going for what's on Kindle or Nook, so it doesn't necessarily match up with the books on my list. Sometimes that turns out well, as in this case.
I definitely grew up pampered, so when I can learn about those less fortunate I feel like it's a good lesson. I know, poor me. Anyway this area is like a super slum, and underneath there are all these tunnels. Somehow living in those tunnels are these 5 blind men who have kidnapped the women and then decide to take over the world or something. To be honest I would have liked information about these guys. How did they end up in the tunnels? How did they go blind? How did they start this five person cult?
Actually there were a few other things I would have liked to know more from the story. The candidate that gets kidnapped and then roped into the cult--how did they convince him? I would have liked more on what happened after the story line of trying to plunder the countryside.
But honestly this was an interesting book. I'm glad I had to do a little more research and find something different.
