In a Pit Behind the Soldiers’ Tents

by Kenneth Cutler

The 1980 the Cold War rages in Central Nicaragua has fallen and El Salvador and Guatemala are on the brink. The Reagan White House makes its stand in Honduras by covertly arming the Contras, unleashing the CIA, and appointing John Negroponte, a tough cold warrior, as Ambassador, who enthusiastically carries out President Reagan’s strategy, all of which leads to increasing struggles and armed reaction.Involved in the struggle for power is the first democratically-elected president of Honduras in over twenty-five years, who, in popular understanding, was third in power in the country he was elected to run; the General of the Armies, trained in the vicious “Argentine way”, who so controlled things that the Congress could not legislate a law nor the President execute it without his permission; and the American Ambassador to whom everyone answered and, in the minds of many, ran the country like a personal fiefdom.Against what Negroponte called “our special project” is a respected doctor, hospital director and professor at the local university and an American “gringo” Jesuit priest, beloved by the poor Honduran people. At the height of the Reagan-era covert war against communism, these two lead an invasion force from Nicaragua into Honduras with the intent to overthrow the American-controlled, elected government.And, thrown into the middle of all this is a young engineer, the daughter of one of the richest men in Honduras, the product of a privileged, elite class that controlled and pulled the background strings of everything, who ends up in a military torture center under the expert hands of a Guatemalan torturer called The Pruner. An intensely suspenseful and moving historical confrontation of ideologies and "Kenneth Cutler's novel, In a Pit Behind the Soldiers' Tents, is an important statement about the realities of life in Honduras in the early 80s. His fascinating characters are real and the events related are true to the way I experienced them on many trips to Honduras in search of the truth about my brother, James Carney. I particularly appreciate the sensitive way Mr. Cutler handled my brother's extraordinary life and the events surrounding his death. Reading about it in novel form where we are seeing even the torturers as real people got to me. The book brings home the horror of life for very many people in Honduras in the early 80's better than any history book could."Maureen CarneySister of Padre Guadalupe (Jim) Carney"I’ll tell you, this novel really got to me. I was on p. 266 when the phone rang and it was a polling firm wanting to know my presidential preferences. I was afraid to answer the questions for fear of reprisal, and had to hang up! High purpose, nonstop suspense and great characters, along with the graceful passing of much information. Julia is a truly heroic character. I like how it weaves historical personages and events into the fictional narrative. An exciting book that has held my attention for several days including this great snowy afternoon when I just stayed with it and finished it. In fact, as I was in the last pages, our power went out and I had to light a Coleman gas lantern, but I kept on going."Prof. William Carpenter, College of the Atlantic

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2012

About the author

Kenneth Cutler grew up in the Boston area of Massachusetts (Lynn), graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a B.A. in English/American Literature, spent three years in post-graduate study at the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop, and later received his M.S. in Educational Administration from the University of Southern Illinois/Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.

He has lived in Central America with his family for forty-three years, the last thirty-seven of those in Honduras, where he has worked as a teacher, High School Principal, Director, and Consultant in bi-lingual schools. He has the honor of being listed twice in Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

Cutler is presently working on his eleventh novel. He has also written three books of short stories and a memoir.