|
|
       
|
 |
 |
 |
In 1988, long before the Patriot Act made outrageous
invasions of Americans' privacy an everyday occurrence,
Beverly Parmentier, hardworking owner of a small
imports store in Albuquerque, finds herself under
surveillance. She isn't paranoid; she is being followed.
Whether it's a trip to the corner store, a Yampa
River rafting expedition, or a luxury vacation to
St. Barth's, someone is keeping tabs on Beverly.
Her phones are tapped, her mail is opened, her house
is searched whenever she leaves home for a few days.
Yes, she stood up for a fellow importer unjustly accused of smuggling. Yes, she
protested to her congressman when the newly beefed-up and power-hungry US Customs
Service drilled holes in her folk art shipment from Peru searching for drugs.
But she has no criminal connections, no arrest record. Beverly's Latin American
import business, La Ñapa, is her one-person foreign aid program, an extension
of the values she embraced in the 60s as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia.
A fubsy, impecunious 42 year-old importer, she wonders how she could be considered
a threat to anyone.
Are her Latin American connections truly suspicious? Or do they serve as an excuse
for arrogant Customs officials to wage war on an outspoken female importer and
have some Federally funded fun in the bargain?
Beverly's ordeal is alternately sinister and hilarious, illustrative of the abuse
of power and the power of friendship. Clearing
Customs is a fast-paced wild ride as Beverly and her pals confound the twisted
agendas of thugs in high places.
Clearing Customs is currently available from Papalote Press / Santa Fe or the bookstore of your choice.
382 pages
Hardcover: ISBN # 0-9755881-0-9 $ 24.95
Paperback: ISBN# 0-9755881-1-7 $ 14.95
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
