The Adventures of Juan Planchard

Twenty-nine-year-old Juan Planchard has five million dollars in the bank, a private jet, and homes in Las Vegas, New York, Madrid, and Caracas. Born in Venezuela, he built his fortune by exploiting loopholes in Hugo Chávez’s socialist "Bolivarian" state.

It is 2011, and life is good for Juan. His sportsbook at the Palms in Las Vegas is flourishing, and he spends his nights fueled by cocaine and accompanied by whichever model or escort catches his eye. Juan can be charming, but he isn't particularly likable—unless your primary interests are money and kinky sex. He is unapologetically out for himself: "I used to believe that the moral good and the collective good were the same thing, and that looking out only for yourself was the ultimate evil. But I got tired of being broke and started paying attention."

Everything shifts one night at a poker table when he sees Scarlet, a woman who takes his breath away. Juan falls instantly, irrevocably in love—in that distinctly Latin American way—and feels compelled to act. The only obstacle is the older man sitting beside her, whom Juan assumes is her father. When the man steps away to the restroom, Juan moves in, handing her his card and asking her to email him: "I walked away, smiling at the woman of my life. She slipped my card into the pocket of her jeans and met my gaze with a look of quiet complicity. She knew it, too. She knew we were meant for each other."

A feverish, high-kink romance ensues, leaving Juan head over heels. Yet duty calls, and the pair are soon jet-setting across the Western Hemisphere. Part of Juan's business takes him back to Venezuela, offering readers an insider look at the country's political corruption and danger during the final years of Chávez's regime.

It's a strange novel—simultaneously unique and derivative. The first half reads like explicit erotic fiction centered on BDSM; the second pivots into a gritty Latin American thriller reminiscent of Don Winslow. Blending these subgenres is an ambitious choice, but this chimera of styles never fully meshes. While Juan remains the central anchor, the tone shifts wildly from absurdism to action movie to melodrama.

There were elements I enjoyed—primarily the sections echoing Winslow's The Cartel—and aspects I resisted, mostly the characters. None of these people are good, making it difficult to root for or against them. The book dips into presumably self-aware absurdity at times (at one point, Juan says: "Fucking her was the least of my concerns. I had just spent the last twenty-four hours inside six different women spanning six different ethnicities"). Still, I couldn't help but wonder if author Jonathan Jakubowicz was using Juan to live out a larger-than-life action hero fantasy.

Originally published in Spanish a decade ago, the book’s history is nearly as wild as Juan’s story itself. Author Jonathan Jakubowicz initially self-published it as an incendiary satire targeting the corruption of the Chávez regime. Although banned in Venezuela, the novel became an underground sensation. It developed a cult following, inspired a Miami stage adaptation, and has now finally been translated and released for English-speaking readers.

It’s an entertaining read with a second half that easily outperforms its first. However, the erratic structure and drastic tonal shifts made it hard to ever fully immerse myself in the story. While those issues kept the book from landing completely, its pure entertainment value keeps it sitting right on the border between 3 and 4 stars.