Leave of Absence (Paperback)

Ronan Byrne has taken a leave of absence from his profession and has come to the Dominican Republic, where instead of finding peace in the coastal town of Santa Cruz he gets involved in conflicts over issues of social justice. Instead of just hanging out with the expatriates who sit around all day at a beach bar drinking and talking and doing nothing, he develops relationships with two activist women: Daria, a doctor whose mission is to stop a foreign-owned power plant from killing children in the barrio with its unfiltered smoke, and Filo, a social worker whose mission is to stop sex tourism in the town and rehabilitate its victims. While they pursue their missions with nonviolent methods, the Cobras, a band of guerrillas, selectively kill the men they blame for the deaths of people who were victims of injustice. As the two women become frustrated in their efforts to get the government to take legal action against the power plant and the local sex-tourist hotel, they begin to wonder if the Cobras have the right idea, and if violence is the only way to achieve their goals.