Oskar — J.T. O'Connor

Favelito (Part I of the Oskar Series) is the tale of a newly-met couple who get caught up in the Guatemalan underworld and the world of international arms smuggling. Evan, the founder of a small NGO that provides communication facilities for Guatemalan families with relatives in the US, meets Julia, an IT consultant in Guatemala, while on a trip into a mythical slum, Favelito, trying to drum up business. He also discovers that Favelito is in an active landslide area and in danger of being buried by a new slide with massive casualties. A local cuchillero tries to rob Evan but later warms to him and becomes a guide through the chaos of Favelito. After a small slide in the active area kills a few people, Evan makes his discovery public angering the criminal boss of the city, Oskar, who orders a hit on Evan, Julia, and others. Meanwhile, Evan runs into a shadowy group of Ukranian arms dealers, who are in town to do business with Oskar and join in the chase of Evan and Julia. Oskar's goons attack Evan at his apartment, blow up Julia's apartment, and kill one of the NGO employees. In the dark about why all of this is happening, Evan and Julia bug out. Evan and Julia manage to escape to the US but are pursued by two assassins from the Ukranian group. They are chased across the winter-scape of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona as the Feds generally screw up in their effort to protect the pair. Julia's sister, Stephanie, appears as a nebulous figure with uncertain connections but a nexus with the criminal elements in Guatemala and a hidden past. Evan calls in an old friend in the Navajo Nation Police to help the couple in their attempt to escape from their pursuers as the well-armed Ukranians elude the Feds and close in on the fugitives. The fate of Favelito remains unrealized, but the control of Oskar over the area is shaken at the conclusion of the tale and the illicit arms dealing organization appears to have taken a hit.