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Retired intelligence analyst Benton decides to move to Thailand after his wife dies, just waiting for his own time to come. He rents a small space to live and frequents an expat bar where he meets people from around the world who have also decided to call the exotic land their home. One evening he is intrigued by a young woman who is playing in a band at the bar, and his curiosity about her is piqued. He learns soon after that she has disappeared, and it’s likely due to her outspokenness about foreigners doing secret drug trials on her hill tribe.
Benton, with nothing else to do with his time and with his experience in Washington giving him some help, decides to investigate. He ends up becoming another subject in the illegal drug trials that are happening. The genetically engineered drugs give him strange hallucinations at times but make him much fitter and leaner, so he’s enjoying that benefit even while feeling leery of the strange and even evil man who is running these trials. He starts collecting evidence of what is happening to try to take down the operation and save these innocent indigenous people — and perhaps even the ecosystem they live in.
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel but was put off by the language and sexual content. I was particularly disgusted by the sexual relationship the much-older Benton ends up having with a young woman who’s only 17. Honestly, it felt like the novel was fantasy concocted by an older male writer, and while I appreciate that it’s (unfortunately) likely a reflection of the realities of what things are available in these developing areas, it was distasteful and I would have been happy not to read it.
On the story and the writing itself, I found the book to be filled with detailed descriptions of the countryside and Thailand’s inhabitants, which were often interesting but sometimes just a bit too much, and the plot uneven. It could have used a good editor reining it in and giving it some order and guidance.
Rated: High. There are several dozen instances of strong language and other uses of moderate language. Sexual content is moderate to high, with sex scenes throughout. Violence is moderately detailed and occurs throughout.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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