No Way to Peace

A novel about the courage of five women - a refugee, a journalist, a widowed mother, a social worker, and a teacher - in Argentina's war of terror during the 1970s. Their stories unfold through the eyes of Stephen, an American banker who has volunteered to stay in Buenos Aires and keep an eye on things for his bank after most foreigners have been evacuated for their safety. Under an arrangement with the bank's chairman, Stephen agrees to help the CIA to stop the main group of terrorists from supporting their activities with the money they have collected as ransom from kinappings. As he begins this assignment he meets a young woman who has fled to Argentina and is living under a false identity to avoid being killed by terrorists from her own country. They fall in love, and they try to build a life together, but they are endangered by Stephen's pursuit of the terrorist money, and they are drawn into the war by his efforts to help their friends who are targeted by the military government for subversive activities. The risks and the moral dilemmas they face in Argentina's war of terror are like the ones we face in today's war of terror. This book has a guide for book club discussions.