The Foreign Service Journal, November 2016

46 NOVEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Tales of the Foreign Service: Life on the Edge Jack Tucker, CreateSpace, 2016, $20/paperback, 294 pages. A compilation of nine short stories based on the author’s experiences during assign- ments with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment, this is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in travel and dramatic tales of love and betrayal. Set in far-flung locales from El Salvador to the Caucasus and from Washington, D.C., to Saudi Arabia, the stories—though fictional—are based on real characters and experiences the author had during his Foreign Service career. They convey realistically, albeit in a dramatic fashion, many aspects of dip- lomatic life and work. The short story “Lost in the Caucasus,” for example, is about a forbidden romance between a Muslim and a Christian that ends in heartbreak. In “Wheels of Justice,” the narrator returns to El Salvador, where he was previously stationed, and comes to learn about the notorious past of a socialite over a game of poker. The author’s knowledge of the Foreign Service gives the stories an insider’s perspective, and the tales keep the reader entertained with vivid language and compelling plot lines. Jack Tucker is a former State Department Foreign Service officer, USAID contractor and reporting officer for the Organiza- tion for Security and Cooperation in Europe who worked and traveled for many years in the Middle East and Central Asia. The author of several books—including Innocents Return Abroad: Exploring Ancient Sites in Western Turkey (2012) and a second volume, Exploring Ancient Sites in Eastern Turkey (2013)—he currently lives in Maryland. Where I Belong Ann Gaylia O’Barr, CreateSpace, 2015, $7.99/paperback, 164 pages. In this Foreign Service-inspired novel, former FSO Ann Gaylia O’Barr writes about Mark Pacer fromMocking Bird, Georgia, who arrives inWashington, D.C., for dip- lomatic training in the same year that his fellowGeorgian, Jimmy Carter, is running for president. Despite his impressive academic credentials from a Southern university, Pacer’s distinct accent makes him an outsider among his A-100 classmates. While struggling to fit in with his cohort, he is haunted by the bitter parting he had with his father, who berated him for choosing such a “highfalutin’” profession. To compound his anxieties, Pacer is falling in love with a woman in his class, Reye Quinnell, who rebuffs his overtures. Tomake mat- ters worse, Mark Pacer is wrongly accused of a hate crime against a fellow classmate of color, but seeks vindication by trying to find the real perpetrator. Where I Belong , the author’s seventh self-published novel, was a 2016 Selah Awards finalist. A Foreign Service consular officer from 1990 to 2004, Ann Gaylia O’Barr served in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, Canada and Washington, D.C. Besides writing, she works as a computer programmer and a historic preservationist. She and her husband and children live in Langley, Washington. Go to her website, www.anngayliaobarr.net, to learn more about her books or to read her blog postings. Return to Umbria David P. Wagner, Poisoned Pen Press, 2016, $26.95/hardcover, $15.95/paperback, 222 pages. Orvieto— its name brings to mind price- less art, colorful ceramics and straw- colored wine, as well as the most famous cathedral façade in Italy. But as private investigator Rick Montoya knows all too well, this jewel of Umbria can have an ugly side as well. Rick’s fourth investigation should not have involved crime at all. It begins when he plans a short but romantic weekend in Orvieto with a woman he meets in Bassano. Less than a day after their arrival, an American visitor is brutally murdered. He learns that the victim had studied art in Italy decades earlier, so why did she return now? Then a second murder occurs in a public park, so close to Montoya that he wonders if he could have been the intended target. More violence erupts, some of it definitely directed at Rick himself. Eventually, he figures out the links among tantaliz- ing secrets, concealed motives and risky behavior, set against a fascinating landscape and multiple layers of Orvieto’s past. David P. Wagner’s previous books in the “Rick Montoya Ital- ian Mystery” series are Cold Tuscan Stone (2013), Death in the Dolomites (2014) and Murder Most Unfortunate (2015). He is a retired Foreign Service officer who spent nine years in Italy, learning to love all things Italian. Other diplomatic assignments included Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay and Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Mary, live in Pueblo, Colorado.