Sonchai Jitpleecheep�John Burdett�s inimitable Royal Thai Police detective with the hard-bitten demeanor and the Buddhist soul�is summoned to the most shocking and intriguing crime scene of his career. Solving the murder could mean a promotion, but Sonchai, reeling from a personal tragedy, is more interested in Tietsin, an exiled Tibetan lama based in Kathmandu who has become his guru. There are, however, obstacles in Sonchai�s path to nirvana. Police Colonel Vikorn has just named Sonchai his consigliere (he�s been studying The Godfather on DVD): to troubleshoot, babysit, defuse, procure, reconnoiter�do whatever needs to be done in Vikorn�s ongoing battle with Army General Zinna for control of Bangkok�s network of illegal enterprises. And though Tietsin is enlightened and (eerily) charismatic, he also has forty million dollars� worth of heroin for sale. If Sonchai truly wants to be an initiate into Tietsin�s �apocalyptic Buddhism,� he has to pull off a deal that will bring Vikorn and Zinna to the same side of the table. Further complicating the challenge is Tara: a Tantric practitioner who captivates Sonchai with her remarkable otherworldly techniques. Here is Sonchai put to the extreme test�as a cop, as a Buddhist, as an impossibly earthbound man�in John Burdett�s most wildly inventive, darkly comic, and wickedly entertaining novel yet. From the Hardcover edition.
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