Sixteen Plus

About the Book

When a strange man comes knocking at the door of Court Printing on the eve of the fourth of July, Romeo “Leo” Caicedo will learn that printing is about more than just duplicating words on the page. As the US celebrates 199 years of independence, ghosts of World War II come to rest at his doorstep, andhe is forced to make a decision that could put his life’s work in jeopardy. Weaving through Poland, Russia, England, and United States, and spanning nearly four decades, Sixteen Plus stands as a testament to the power of silent protest in challenging injustice. Come along on a suspense-filled journey as Leo and the Romanoffs take control of their own destinies.

Romeo “Leo” Caicedo is living the American Dream. Since his arrival in the United States from Quito, Ecuador, has been a model citizen, joining the army, raising a family, and making a name for himself as a writer and businessman.<\br>

His hope is for a unification of all the flags of the world. Court Printing would become the cathedral of something beautiful. Language, origin, the language. For a moment in time, they managed to blur the boundaries, until neither language, religious, origin did not matter.

About the Author

It was inevitable that Romeo Caicedo would write about the passionate events in “Sixteen Plus.” Such a story could hardly remain buried in a remarkable Ecuadorian composer, poet, and writer who had already made a name for himself as a successful festival prize winner. Through the years, Caicedo has been distinguished with important awards granted by the Association of Entertainment Critics of New York (ACE), along with innumerable recognitions by compatriots in his country, Ecuador, and in the United States where he arrived in 1959. In the year 1988, the Academy of Science, Art, and Letters of Paris granted Caicedo a silver medal for his numerous achievements. Caicedo has also taken first place in many important musical competitions, such as the Festival Internacional de la Canción Latina (International Festival of the Latin Song) in New York with the song “Te Voy a Regalar un Continente” (I am Going to Give you a Continent); the festival “En la Mitad del Mundo” (In the Middle of the World) with “Señor José” (Mr. Jose); the Miami Latin American Festival for his song “Quédate Conmigo” (Stay with me); and the Festival Internacional de la Voz y la Canción (the International Festival of the Voice and Song) in Puerto Rico for “Su Canción” (Your Song). As a result of his successes, Caicedo was nicknamed “King of Film Festivals" by journalists in New York. Through the trajectory of Caicedo’s career as a composer, and in the multitude of songs he has written, which have crossed Latin America and Spain, Romeo Caicedo has shown himself to be a good observer of the human condition. He has done no differently in this novel. Caicedo’s accounts of the adventures and afflictions of his characters convey the reality of true events with the indispensable element of suspense. In "Sixteen Plus," Caicedo transports the reader to a world threatened by the terror of Nazis on European soil. The stage for this devastating World War II drama traverses the borders of Germany, Poland, England and Russia, before crossing the Atlantic and arriving at the promised land of America. Indeed, it is in Brooklyn, New York, where Caicedo’s forceful narrative receives strength, involving the readers in the type of fiction that Hitchcock favored in his movies. This remarkable artist once told a journalist, “I take the sacred mission of being Ecuadorian for the rest of my life,” and the truth is that in diverse modalities, whether it is as a poet, composer, writer or novelist, Romeo Caicedo has upheld the name of Ecuador, a country which takes pride in him. Fernando Campos, President The Association of Entertainment Critics of New York (ACE)