The Passengers

Six strangers from different parts of the world meet on a private plane in Thailand. Most believe they are traveling to the eastern islands for work and play. Only one knows the truth: the plane is heading west, to the secret island home of Amador Covas-Callas, the drug overlord of the Far East.

Six strangers from different parts of the world meet on a private plane in Thailand. Most believe they are traveling to the eastern islands for work and play. Only one knows the truth: the plane is heading west, to the secret island home of Amador Covas-Callas, the drug overlord of the Far East. Kate Shaw, a prize-winning photographer, along with two missionaries and a private pilot, are unaware that they share a plane with one of America’s leading drug distributors, Marcus Keller. Keller, however, wants to be free of the dark shadows that haunt anyone who works for Amador Covas-Callas. He intends to convince the pilot, Syd Hopkins, to guide the plane to the western islands where he will face the cartel leader once and for all. The passengers on the early November flight must confront more than a change in direction, however. They must survive the broken airplane plummeting through the sky after being shot down by the cartel, a preacher who is descending into madness and an angry Andaman Sea. Not all members of the party will survive. But those who do will have their lives changed forever.

Benjamin Bricco is a writer and creative consultant who grew up near Cleveland, Ohio. He has published one book of poetry, and his other work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Nimrod, The Adirondack Review, Harpur Palate, Copper Nickel, Rhino, wicked alice, Poetry Midwest, Barn Owl Review, Poems & Plays and Angle Magazine, among others. He has been a finalist for several literary awards, including the Beatrice Hawley Award, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Benjamin spends half of his year in Budapest, Hungary, where he lives, writes and runs with his half-blind, big-hearted black dog, Barnabas.