The previous content of this page (Nightfall by Stephen Leather) has moved here.
Stephen Leather is a prolific writer and the author of a series of action 'anti-terrorist' novels starring
Dan 'Spider' Shepherd.
In 2010 Stephen Leather produced his first novel in an apparent new series starring Jack Nightingale. This was followed later by a second book 'Midnight'. One could say both star 'the devil', the supernatural and serious soul searching.
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Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon, by Stephen Leather |
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Apparently first starting out as a kindle edition, end 2010 saw the appearance of Bangkok Bob as a antique dealer and private detective in 'Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon'. We picked the book quite cheaply (just over 300 baht) as a pocket edition at Asia Books.
Bob Turtledove aka Bangkok Bob kind of stumbled into the private investigator business by accident, just helping out friends and customers. He is married, and while he suffers from the 'all-Thai-young-women-are-stunning' syndrome, is faithfull to his well connected, rich, and of course stunning wife. While being down-to-earth and familiar with Bangkok's underbelly, he has all the prerequisites for his profession : he knows and befriended officers and officials at Thai immigration, Thai police and local embassies.
The case at hand starts is simple : a young man, just travelling a bit around the country, has disappeared and his Mormon parents are worried after they did not hear from him for a while.
Bob Turtledove takes us through the steps involved in trying to find a missing person in Thailand. One step leads logically to another, the storyline is not convoluted, and in the process, while wandering around town (mostly the Sukhumvit area) he provides valuable information for any newbie traveler to Thailand. We learn about Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Washington Square, but this is not another bargirl story.
There is some good stereotyping (there is always some truth) in this novel. So we learn about the sexpat poorly paid English teachers (our disappeared young man Jon Clare worked temporarily as a teacher) in Bangkok, the dismal way Thai police investigates crimes, and what even rich school girls will do just to get a Blackberry.
The whole story is set in Bangkok and there is actually not much violence involved in finding the young man. During the investigation, it becomes clear that something untoward may have happened to Jon Share, who may have upset some people during his short stay in Thailand.
Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon is a short novel and offers light reading (we have nothing against it). It may be the start of yet another series. We like stories set in Bangkok, taking us to the places we know.
On a sad note, this book contains a lot of typing errors and missing or duplicated words. Maybe this is something we can expect when books are written initially as e-books, which may partly be a medium of furtivity and sloppiness. I guess editors are to blame, but the ultimate responsibility lies certainly with the authors.
Bangkok Bob and the Missing Mormon is published by Three Elephants.
You can buy Stephen Leather's books through his website. The author also has a blog site where he vents his anger and strong opinions. Of course, he talks also about his literary works in progress.
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