This novel is a fast-paced story that takes place over a period of two weeks in the Lithium Triangle, a large South American region of salt flats where lithium is found and mined. It includes a murder mystery, theft of industrial secrets, a genetically engineered microbe, as well as American, Russian, Chinese, and Argentine spies and sleuths. It deals with a well known contemporary issue: the mining of lithium . . . which leads to a toxic brew of greed, international money, and local corruption. There is a lot of local color, a touch of romance, and a little bit of ancient Inca history, too.