Maura (maura853) - , reviewed on 8/14/2020 + 542 more book reviews

Enjoyable oddball mystery thriller, with a mild supernatural twist. I enjoyed this, but felt that it was, perhaps, a bit too "busy" -- a symptom of "first novel in a long-running series" syndrome.

It's the local color that really makes this stand out, and makes me want to revisit the series: Laos in the 1970s Dr. Siri Paibourn is someone who fought for his whole life to liberate Laos from its monarchy and malign foreign influences (the USA and France), and establish a socialist state -- but is bloody-minded enough to recognize that the Communist regime that has taken over from that monarchy is far from paradise on earth, and the foreign influences that it has buckled under to (the USSR, China, Vietnam) aren't much better than what went before.

I can see this series getting better and better, as the author relaxes, and let's the character and story breathe a bit.

Regarding the ghostly element: My husband -- who is as supernatural-phobic as they come -- really enjoyed this. I was surprised that he wasn't turned off by the ghostly thread to the story, and I asked him about it -- and he said that he interpreted it as a manifestation of PTSD from Paibourn's wartime experiences. An interesting reading, I thought.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details