Leaves in the wind: A Novel of the Dirty Wars by Ian T. King introduces us to Julia Medrano, a feisty and determined young Latin American woman who will always fight for the oppressed. When she sets out to fight for her principles, she ends up gone or “disappeared” and she is just one more casualty in the dirty wars. Can Julia's mother find out what happened to her beautiful only daughter? Or will Helena find nothing at all to give her a happy ending or closure.

This is a gripping story with characters that will also grip you. It is a mother's worst nightmare when a child goes missing. I can only imagine how Helena felt when she heard her daughter was gone - a possible casualty in this dirty war. To me this book also sends a message of hope because Helena will not give up; she even recruits her former lover Angelo to help her - she does not want to take no or dead ends for an answer. You can tell that author Ian T. King put a lot of love and work into this book because it comes out in the pages. This book was an entertaining read and I enjoyed every page. If you want a book that will draw you in, is well edited and has a flow that is just right, this is a great book. I would recommend this book to any avid reader.

Leaves in the Wind: A Novel of the Dirty Wars by Ian T. King unravels in Latin America on the momentous day of January 1, 1959, when revolutionary leader Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba. On the same day in Latin America, Julia Medrano is born under humble circumstances, as her father ominously dies in an accident. She grows up in the care of her loving mother, to become a determined young woman with a heart for the poor and the oppressed. As a teenager, she is attracted to Angelo but the relationship eventually ends on a sad note. At the same time, Manuel Contreras, a loveless orphan suffering from autism, is transferred from an orphanage to a psychiatric unit in the capital city. Their paths will one day cross in the midst of the so called Dirty Wars of Latin America.

In the historical fiction novel Leaves in the Wind: A Novel of the Dirty Wars, one of the main protagonists is Julia Medrano, an idealistic woman who becomes victim of her country’s politics, and Manuel Contreras, a crazed young man, is her main antagonist. There are, however, many characters in this novel and all of them are well developed and three dimensional. In developing his characters, author Ian T. King displays a creative writing style that is both imaginative and profound and this is one of the elements of the novel that makes it hard to put down. This is not all, however, because as one turns the over seven hundred pages, the plot takes several twists and finally converges in a way that is hard to predict. Set in the turbulent time of the Dirty Wars in Latin America, when hundreds of people simply disappeared from the face of the earth, this novel has all the ingredients of a best seller.