Archive - June 2016

  Two Pumps for the Body Man: A Diplomatic Noir B. A. [Ben] East (Malawi 1996–98) New Pulp Press March 2016 286 pages $14.95 (paperback), $4.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by John Rouse (Peru 1966–68) • Ben East’s humorous yet deadly serious diplomatic noir  Two Pumps for the Body Man should be required reading for any youngster contemplating a foreign service career along the conflict-torn borders of the vast American empire. It’s a story about Jeffrey Mutton, a diplomatic security officer in charge of strengthening office security at a local consular office in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the September 11 disaster and during the propaganda buildup to the “War on Terror” and the US invasion of Iraq. Mutton and his confederacy of bungling junior political officers and visa stampers find themselves hopelessly caught within the seductive spell of their professionally incompetent, but bureaucratically ambitious, Consul General; the two-faced maneuvering of their . . .