Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak (2012) John Burdett

Sonchai is in over his head now. Colonel Vikorn has decided (was ordered?) to run for governor of Bangkok. Because General Zinna controls the local trade in body parts, Vikorn has decided that wiping out selling of illegal body parts is the way to make his name and propel himself into the governorship while (perhaps finally) taking down Zinna.

In the meantime, Chanya is working on her PhD (looking at women and prostitution of course) but is having serious problems with her advisor, who strenuously disagrees with Chanya’s ideas on women and power and prostitution.

Sonchai has been traveling further afield and this book is no exception. Vikorn send him abroad to make the proper connections in the trade, (Sonchai’s facility with languages makes him the best candidate for these adventures).

As usual, I love the complexity of both Sonchai and the world in which he lives. He’s a copy, but he has no problem with illegal drugs (how could he, when his boss controls the local heroin/morphine trade?) or prostitution (again, how could he considering that he’s part owner of a local club, with his mother and his boss).

I’ll be very curious to see what (if anything) happens to Sonchai, in the future.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Vintage Crime

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