Peter Eichstaedt

An award-winning author, Eichstaedt writes high-octane thrillers and nonfiction about about the most dangerous regions of the world, from Somalia and the Congo to the wilds of Afghanistan. He was awarded the 2016 and 2015 International Latino Book Award for his novel, BORDERLAND (WildBlue Press 2016) and his nonfiction expose, THE DANGEROUS DIVIDE (Chicago Review Press 2014), as well as the 2010 Colorado Book Award for FIRST KILL YOUR FAMILY (Chicago Review Press 2009), . His books take readers inside remote and rarely seen locations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia, and the US-Mexico borderlands. His highly-praised and award-winning book on child soldiers in Uganda, FIRST KILL YOUR FAMILY, puts you face-to-face with youngsters traumatized by the slaughter of their parents and are forced to chose between their own death or a life of killing and plunder. In neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the deadliest places on earth, Eichstaedt's CONSUMING THE CONGO reveals how the rapacious mining of coltan, a mineral vital to the high-tech industry, has savaged the land and forced destitute miners to toil in miserable and deadly dangerous conditions. Off the coast of Somalia, in east Africa, his on-the-ground reporting produced PIRATE STATE: Inside Somalia's Terrorism at Sea (Lawrence Hill Books/Chicago Review Press 2010). The book exposes the desperation that gave rise the notorious pirates of Somalia. For nearly a decade, these fearless and impoverished former fishermen terrorized and plundered international cargo ships along one of the world's most historic and busiest of trade routes. In The DANGEROUS DIVIDE, Eichstaedt traverses remote sections of the US-Mexico borderlands to dig below the headlines and the blather of right-wing radio talk-show hosts to reveal the truth about life along the US-Mexico border. The book won the prestigious 2015 International Latino Book Award for Best Political/Current Affairs Book. Eichstaedt's earlier works include IF YOU POISON US: Uranium and Native Americans, which reveals the deadly health and environmental devastation caused by unbridled uranium mining on the Navajo lands in the American Southwest during the height of the Cold War. His novel, BORDERLAND, captures the chilling and deadly drama of life along America's dangerous border with Mexico as journalist Kyle Dawson pursues the killers of his father, a notorious land developer from the El Paso, TX, area. His other fiction includes: ENEMY of the PEOPLE, a thriller set in the mountains of northern New Mexico and the second book of the Kyle Dawson series (WildBlue Press 2019). Desperate to move his stalled agenda, a liberal Democratic US president agrees to a summit with top GOP congressional conservatives in a swank resort retreat in northern New Mexico. But the meeting quickly morphs into a national and international crisis when the president is kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. NAPA NOIR, a mystery-thriller set in San Francisco and northern California wine country, featuring journalist Dante Rath. When northern California’s idyllic Napa Valley is shattered by the vineyard shooting deaths of two men, investigative reporter/wine editor Rath seizes the chance to salvage his sagging career (WildBlue Press 2018). Be on the lookout for his forthcoming literary thriller, THE RIDGE (Sunstone Press, 2023) featuring Santa Fe-based journalist Luke Jackson. He travels to northern New Mexico to cover a land grant protest with roots in the 1800s featuring Hispanic activists who arm themselves and refuse to surrender without land concessions. Jackson finds himself caught in the middle and barely escapes alive. His other non-fiction includes: ABOVE the DIN of WAR: Afghan Speak About Their Lives, Their Country and Their Future and Why America Should Listen, (Chicago Review Press 2013), which offers readers some very personal, revealing, and heart-rending conversations with Afghans, a people who have endured decades of relentless and seemingly endless war (Lawrence Hill Books 2013).