The Broken Road

I live in suburban New Orleans, and unfortunately two things that most people consider to be a given, at one time or another, are hurricanes and corruption. The Broken Road is a story of both. Keifer Bonvillain lived and worked in an area southwest of New Orleans and became a supervisor with Beck Disaster Recovery, one of the "storm chaser" companies that came in after Hurricane Gustav to help clean up the mess and get things back to normal as quickly as possible. Dismayed by what he saw happening, even after going to his supervisors, he wrote this book.

About the Book:

Contractors from across the country deluge Terrebonne Parish after Hurricane Gustav's forceful winds batter and cripple it. Among the Government’s first responders is Beck Disaster Recovery. BDR is a monitoring company approved by FEMA. Author Keifer Bonvillain, runs to the aid of his home town and works with BDR as a Field Supervisor to clean up Terrebonne Parish. The following is just a sample of the corruption, immorality, and debauchery the author uncovered:

• Cocaine and alcohol abuse among members of BDR.
• Collusion between a high ranking parish official, Omni Pinnacle and BDR.
• Blackmail of contractors by BDR monitors.
• The Exploitation of Women offered false promises of advancement in the company in exchange for sexual favors.

Bonvillain continued to work for BDR until 2 Alabama contractors came to him with irrefutable evidence of Federal fraud. Bonvillain contacts the corporate office and makes them aware of the fraud and corruption in Terrebonne Parish. BDR promises an internal investigation and sweeping reform. BDR also claims to have contacted The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. When investigators fail to contact any of the employees working in Terrebonne Parish, Bonvillain, fearing a cover-up, decides to dust off his recorder and conduct an investigation of his own.

Living Through a Hurricane

Intricately woven in the pages of The Broken Road is Author Keifer Bonvillain’s firsthand account of living through Hurricane Gustav and the storm that followed. The author sends out a clear warning, "Beware! This could be happening in your back yard."

From Me:

I wish I could tell you that I live in south Louisiana and felt sure that Bonvillian was stringing together a bunch of unrelated events, throwing in a vivid imagination and coming up with a novel disguised as non-fiction. Unfortunately, I can't. Unfortunately what I read in this book sounds very much like what I read in the papers.

From a literary standpoint the book leaves something to be desired. The writing is choppy, with a lot of email peppered throughout. The book is a man telling a story; it wanders some and almost tries to do too much; however, it is an important story that needs to be told.

To learn more, check out Bonvillian's website.

To purchase from Amazon: The Broken Road to Disaster Recovery