Oriental Illusions

Thailand mystery. Interpol agent Dan Porter battles corruption and culture clashes during the search for missing backpackers.

De: James Keegan

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Police investigator Dan Porter returns in ORIENTAL ILLUSIONS, a suspenseful crime-fiction thriller set in Southeast Asia, the riveting sequel to James Keegan's bestselling debut, THE CUMAL FILES.IN THE MYSTERIOUS ORIENT, NOTHING AND NO-ONE ARE AS THEY SEEM...Disillusioned with his State Police career after dismantling a global sex-slave network with the Dragon Slayer taskforce, Dan Porter joins the newly-formed Interpol unit in Sydney. When multiple young backpackers vanish from Southeast Asia he’s sent to Bangkok and entrusted with the difficult task of finding them.He joins the 'Lost Angels' investigation team and it's obvious from the start both Thailand's government and its suspicious elite don't want him there. Frustrated by police bosses and politicians who refuse to acknowledge something sinister is afoot, Porter fears an untouchable crime syndicate is responsible for the disappearances.He searches Bangkok’s seedy underbelly for clues, in constant danger and hampered by endemic corruption. Apathy and archaic investigative methods are dismissed as misunderstandings and cultural differences. The city both intrigues and disgusts him at the same time. He's mesmerized by his partner, a true oriental beauty, but has no idea if he can trust her or anyone else. Porter delves deeper to uncover evidence linking several Thailand-based entities to human-trafficking. Religious charities, NGO's, Russian internal security agents, Cambodian gangsters, Arab drug dealers and Korean loan-sharks become targets. All have secrets to hide and plenty of reasons to want him dead. When he pursues powerful men suspected of leading a criminal network operating between Southeast Asia and Los Angeles, his loved-ones both near and far are threatened. Angry and more determined than ever he ignores the warnings and pushes on, desperate to locate the missing backpackers and expose the predators who profit from trading innocent lives. But if Porter's to succeed he must first learn to separate fact from illusion. Because in the mysterious orient, nothing and no-one are as they seem…

Excellent mystery set in Thailand

This story had me enthralled from the moment Agent Dan Porter arrived in Bangkok. His attempts to understand a totally foreign culture while trying to run an investigation had me laughing. So the humor in the story was a welcome break to the sad subject matter. The title of Oriental Illusions is apt, as the author clearly has a good knowledge of Thailand and the way things are done differently. There is plenty of suspense and every time I thought I knew who the main antagonist was, a twist in the story and I was wrong. I enjoyed this book but my only question is, when is the third book in the series coming out?