Vulture Peak

Jon Burdett's novels about Thailand and southeast Asia in general are always fascinating, often gruesome, and yet thought provoking. This fifth in a series that features Buddhist detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep focuses on the exploding trade in human organs and all the vices that you can imagine--and some you probably would not--in connection with the attaining and selling of same. His common law marriage to former prostitute Chanya is somewhat on the rocks; there are rumors she has a lover and Sonchai himself finds his attentions wandering. He is sorely tempted by one particular woman who seems to be at the heart of two overlapping cases, one involving a serial rapist and the other the organ trafficking empire of some very beautiful and very powerful Chinese twins. I devoured the first three in this series (Bangkok 8, Bangkok Tatoo, and Bangkok Haunts) and when I started this, realized I had missed the fourth (The Godfather of Kathmandu) which I will certainly go back and fill in. I also really like The Last Six Million Seconds--another book outside the series about the handover of Hong Kong. These books are gritting and compelling perspectives of the sex trade and corruption of the police in Thailand, but certainly don't entice me to want to visit. This is definitely armchair travel that will stay in the armchair. Kirkus offers more details of the plot.