When The Jaguar Sleeps: A jungle adventure (The Curse Of Inca Gold)

“When The Jaguar Sleeps” by J.A. Kalis takes you deep into the Ecuadorian jungle following two, young male survivors of a plane crash, Didier and Florent. The plane was en route to a scheduled jungle tour prior to the fatal mishap, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and the remaining tourists.The author wastes no time using colorful description to set the stage for dangerous adventure facing the two men. The drama builds as the survivors debate whether to stay near the plane waiting for rescuers or to venture off in search of civilization and safety. Didier, a French adventurer with some knowledge of wilderness survival, is the more level-headed of the two. Still, neither is well-prepared for the dangers of a tropical jungle filled with poisonous plants, snakes, and headhunting native tribes, ancestors of the ancient Incas.In their quest to find civilization, Didier and Florent stumble across ancient ruins filled with golden treasures. They also come face to face with murderous grave robbers, posing their biggest threat to getting out of the jungle alive.The pace of the novel is brisk and filled with action and suspense. Each scene is set with vivid and almost rhythmic descriptions, as if the author has firsthand knowledge of the South American jungle. She also interjects extremely detailed historic information about the region and its inhabitants. While adding to the interest of the novel, the level of detail presented through the dialogue of the two main characters made me wonder how/if the two men would discuss such historic detail, filled with complex names and places, while facing hunger, scorching heat, and survival.Action/adventure/suspense is my favored and most-read genre. “When the Jaguar Sleeps” met my expectations throughout. The plot was gripping, the characters were captivating and believable, and the pace was rapid. Best of all, the ending leaves room for a sequel. I’ll be sure to check it out.

Warning: This entire review will consist of "Spoiler Alerts." One 5-star reviewer describes the book as factual, including the plane crash. Oh, really? Six people, including pilot and co-pilot were in a single-engine Cessna. There was a "sound" and the plane went nose down. Ridiculous! A plane even without an engine will lose altitude but will glide (unless both wings fell off!). Then the author writes, "The plane hit the ground and exploded with a mighty whump." Again, ridiculous that four of the six people survived a plane that exploded upon impact.Later she writes, "Many hours had passed since the crash and so the odds that the fuselage would explode were rather low." Huh? The plane had already "exploded."Two other people die after the crash, leaving two guys, Florent and Didier. One had an injured leg. They decided to trek through the jungle trying to find some sort of civilization, most of the time without food or water. They were weak and plagued by insect bites, but they managed to trudge on nevertheless, both carrying heavy backpacks. After some time, they found an empty cave, obviously being looted for Incan gold artifacts. The looters returned when the two were in the cave, but somehow they managed to avoid detection...until they ran out of the cave, that is. Then they were pursued. One, Florent, was shot in the chest (instead of the back as it would have been if they were fleeing). The other, Didier, "washed the wound." Hummm...how did that happen when they had no water? Florent went unconscious, but later regained consciousness and the two continued their trek, both carrying heavy backpacks. Despite leg wounds, gunshot wounds, being weak from lack of food and water, the two managed to soldier on.Florent was later killed by an indigenous man. Didier managed to escape.Twice the author mentioned a gunshot creating a "shrill whistling sound." Ridiculous. A bullet itself doesn't make any noise. Twice she also said "their ears twitched." Humans' ears do not "twitch."The head honcho of the looters, Brian, was determined to find and kill Didier so he could not reveal the theft of the artifacts, but Didier (all the time weak from lack of food and water) always managed to escape capture and/or gunshots. Brian, however, did not know the identity of Didier. Didier finally reached Quito, where he agreed to a newspaper interview about the plane crash in the jungle. Voilà! Now Brian, the bad guy, knew Didier's identity. Thus more (unsuccessful) attempts to capture and kill Didier.Then eventually, the cliffhanger ending where Didier is concerned about his future well being.By the different spelling of certain words, the author is apparently British, or maybe Canadian, but certainly not native to the US. Despite the different punctuation practices of the British (' for opening and closing quotation marks instead of "), there were punctuation errors galore that made me want to pull out my hair! Especially the incorrect tossing in of commas. For example: 'I'm afraid, I can't tell you exactly when, right now.'Errors of the verbs "to lie" and "to lay." Artifacts spelled as "artefacts." "Loosing" instead of "losing." How anyone could have given this ridiculous book a positive review is beyond me. Maybe the reviewer who wrote, "Then ending was,a total surprise" with an incorrect comma tossed in. Michelle Stanley reviewed it for Readers' Favorite and gave a 5-star review. I'd certainly never read ANYTHING given a positive review by her!I wish i could have given it a zero rating!

Genre - Action/AdventurePages - 302“When The Jaguar Sleep” by J.A. Kalis is her debut novel, and my first read by this author. I don’t read a lot of jungle/adventure books, but I was quite happy with what I read. Great characters and and an amazingly descriptive plot that takes place mostly in the Ecuadorian Jungle. It’s a race for survival and escape with some really good background into the Inca/Aztec culture. Fast paced and exciting from start to finish. The finish is a bit of a cliffhanger, but still ended on a good solid note. J.A. Kalis has another novel “The Travel Mate” an International Thriller that I am looking forward to reading. Recommend for the adventure seekers out there.Synopsis (from back cover): A plane crash in the Amazon jungle...A desperate struggle for survival ...An unexpected discovery...Ecuador. A dream holiday turns into a nightmare when two young men are stranded in the Ecuadorian rain forest after their plane crashes. Desperate to survive, they decide to set off on a daring journey through the 'green hell'. Despite the harsh environment sucking their strength away, they push on until they enter a territory inhabited by isolated Indian tribes hostile to outsiders and where probably the fabulous treasures destined for the last Inca emperor Atahualpa's ransom, are hidden. Soon, unexpected dangers arise.

This book was fast paced and used great descriptive langue (The sudden light stung his irises like a thorn) that enhanced my reading experience. Didier and Florent board a plane which comes down in the jungle. Kalis does the scene well and the story continues with lots of plot twists that keep you guessing. This isn't just about their survival as they stumble across Inca treasure and the people who will kill to keep it. Full on adventure written in the third person, covering several interlaced plots. A great read!

I read it but nearly gave up because although it had action it didnt seem to have a cohesive story. Too much of running around the jungle

Good

“When the Jaguar Sleeps” is a fast paced action-adventure novel set in the Ecuadorian jungle. A group of tourists become victims of a plane crash in which only two of them survive. In their attempts to find a way back to civilization, the two survivors come across a hidden treasure, a group of well-armed grave robbers, and an Indian tribe who resent the intrusion into their land and kill one of the men. The last remaining survivor goes through a myriad of challenges before he finally reaches what he thinks is a safe haven. The novel ends in a twist. The long tentacles of the illegal organization which smuggles ancient artefacts out of Ecuador reach across the ocean and erase any hope of normal life. Didier now knows he will never be safe.The book provides ample information about the Inca culture. Its rapidly developing plot line and the detailed, breathtaking descriptions of the scenery make it a very enjoyable read.

It started a little slow but it picked up pace. By the end I was drawn into the story and intend to read the second book.