THE SPARE PARTS BOX

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A young female student of anatomy, Lam, on her first day in the dissection room, encounters a cadaver of a young woman which for administrative reasons is taken away. Several months later she is given a head to dissect, and recognises who must have been the head's former owner. Initial interest is purely anthropological, but soon becomes forensic when the possibility of unnatural death is raised. The police do not follow this through, and Lam determines, despite threat of career ruination, she must pursue an investigation herself. Ultimately her efforts are rewarded by the forensic conclusions.
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The Politics of Economic Stagnation in the Soviet Union: The Role of Local Party Organs in Economic Management (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies)

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Peter Rutland analyzes the role played by regional and local organs of the Soviet Communist Party in economic management from 1970 to 1989. Using a range of Soviet political and economic journals, newspapers and academic publications, he examines Communist Party economic interventions in construction, energy, transport, consumer goods, and agriculture. He convincingly argues that party interventions hindered rather than assisted the search for efficiency in the Soviet economy and represent a major obstacle to the current economic reform movement.
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The Thirteenth Time Zone

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In a crime ridden San Diego neighborhood a lone police officer holds the line between good and evil. For two years Officer Owen “Blue” Drew is secretly detailed to a one man, covert operation to disrupt drug activities and arrest the most vicious and notorious gang members in a forsaken sector. In the process a contract is put out on his life by the drug lords and he eventually sacrifices everything to his personal war on crime.

In the frenzy of battle and violence Blue realizes he is on the brink of madness. His world begins to implode on him. Consumed by the violence, he leaves the Department to search for something lost within himself. His journey takes him through over thirty countries, three continents and thirteen time zones. This epic two and a half year passage ends in a small Swiss mountain village and to a sacred place within himself. A place where many people, cultures and religions lent a helping hand, to a place of tranquil peace, where the doorway to the heart is opened forever.

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 "Great read" 2008-10-06
By Thomas G. Briggs (Marco Island, FL)
I met David Jebb in 9th grade. We were neighbors and surfing pals. As is too often the case, we lost touch until recently when we reconnected at the glider port in San Diego - we guessed it had been 40 years. We talked of old friends, too many no longer with us. David kindly presented me with an autographed copy of his book and said this would give me an idea of what he was doing for part of those 40 years.

I started reading on the plane trip home and finished the next day. It is a real page turner and projects insights into David's life, thoughts, questions and his journey. And what a journey it was! It is well written, concise and flows beautifully. A thoroughly enjoyable read. I am looking forward to his next book and staying connected with David.

 "A roaring road trip of self-discovery!" 2007-11-11
By M. D. Jebb (Tuebingen, GERMANY)
The character Blue starts the tale of The Thirteenth Time Zone off with a bang. No literally - the familiar "bang-bang" of cops vs. crooks. You get to take a pause from the constant adventures of street officer Owen "Blue" Drew only after 50 or so pages into the book. At this point he begins his transformation from "street officer" into "peace officer." He leaves the force and sets off into the world - and what a world is waiting for him!



In reading this novel I found myself flying through the cop stuff (just not my thing, really) in order to get to the juicy "big picture" of the narrative - the search for self-discovery and the lessons learned in traveling. One of David's great strengths as a writer were his unique metaphors used throughout the book. Here are just a few that I relished:



"The Eros crashed ahead, taking on wave after wave and throwing back spray that hit my face like the snapping mane of a running horse." (P. 89)



"The problem was that every time the Eros fell on her side, bilge water gushed all over the galley. Paper plates and foam cups drifted around me like mocking reminders of what floating was supposed to mean." (P. 96)



"I closed my eyes and swayed back and forth like a cobra to the sound of the music." (P. 151)



Aside from his colorful descriptions of all that he sees and experiences in his spiritual quest, the novel is not without salacious sex scenes and sharp wit. Again, here are a few tidbits:



"Maybe it was the fact that she was offering herself to me the way someone might toss a Kleenex to a friend with a runny nose. Or perhaps it was the little detail of the boyfriend--but somehow, nothing felt right about this." (P. 134)



"I wondered what the brothers of the Benedictine Order would say about the idea of promiscuity as a path to Enlightenment." (P. 148)



I have no doubt that anyone who purchases this book will be done with it in one to two sittings because it is a true page-turner. Enjoy!

 "POWERFUL INTROSPECTIVE ADVENTURE " 2007-09-04
By E. Hunter (Raleigh NC)
David Jebb, thorough his protagonist "Owen" (a successful young police officer who abandons his life) takes us inside the mind of a man making his personal pilgrimage across several continents in search of inner peace, understanding, and wholeness. Unknowingly Owen is continually surrendering himself to his environment and the strangers he must encounter to help him each day meet his basic needs for food, water, shelter and more. Not finding his answers, with each step he pushes himself deeper and deeper to the far corners of the earth and into his total dependency on others and his harsh environment for survival. Readers will sense that Owens ever increasing trust in mankind and his own ability to survive anything are driving him dangerously close to the precipice of life. Finally when Owen is extremely sick, exhausted, and as close to death as he can possibly take himself, his long sought after answers are revealed to him in a startling way. A must read for all, Jebbs literary style is completely open, intense, graphic, romantic, action packed, and riveting.

 "Great Adventure / Self-Discovery Novel" 2007-07-29
By Running Fool (Chula Vista, CA United States)
This is a great adventure novel. "Owen's," journey around the world in a life & death struggle for survival to find the meaning of life is filled with incredible courage, passion, & hope for mankind. It will stand the test of time.

 "So good, I read it twice" 2007-03-06
By Reader Views (Austin, Texas)
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (2/07)



San Diego police office Owen Drew considered his body as another piece of equipment to be used in the war against crime and he kept it in tip-top shape. This enabled him to perform his job superbly. His excellence did not go unnoticed by the upper echelon and one day after roll call, Drew was called into a private meeting with his captain, lieutenant and sergeant. After commending him on his arrest record, the captain asked him, "If you had the power to deal with the gangs in your sector, to handle them any way you like, what would you do?"



That question started one of the most exciting, and dangerous, times in Drew's life. Backed with the support of his superiors and fellow officers, with carte blanche to do what was necessary to clear out the gangs in San Diego's most crime-ridden streets, Drew launched his offensive, a modern day warrior, his horse a specially equipped Ford. Bypassing the street runners and middlemen, Drew set his sights on the leaders and the peddlers, figuring to break down their financial network and their leadership. Just how effectively he was doing his job was proved several months later when word was received that the gangs had pooled their money and placed a contract on Drew's head.



And all of this is only in the first fifty pages, setting us up for the real story being told, how a man of conscience, wanting only to do the best he can, to protect the weak and the underdog, can have his soul destroyed by the countless encounters with evil. So Drew takes a one-year sabbatical from the job, determined to find his lost soul, starting with a job as crewman on a sailing vessel. When the owner of the sailboat cuts the trip short, Drew continues his journey alone, hitchhiking and walking around the world, living in a commune, taking jobs as he finds them. The year's sabbatical stretches to two before Drew finally finds the inner peace he seeks at a small Swiss village and he realizes that his days as a San Diego police officer are over for good.



I really enjoyed "The Thirteenth Time Zone." In fact, I've even reread it. There are some minor typos that should be fixed, but not enough that they really bother you.


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The Third Reich in Power, 1933-1939

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The definitive account of Germany's malign transformation under Hitler's total rule and the implacable march to war.

By the middle of 1933, the democracy of the Weimar Republic had been transformed into the police state of the Third Reich, mobilized around the cult of the leader, Adolf Hitler. If this could happen in less than a year, what would the future hold? Only the most fervent Nazi party loyalists would have predicted how radical the transformation ahead would be.

In The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans tells the story of Germany's radical reshaping under Nazi rule. Every area of life, from literature, culture, and the arts to religion, education, and science, was subordinated to the relentless drive to prepare Germany for war. His book shows how the Nazis attempted to penetrate and reorder every aspect of German society, encountering many kinds and degrees of resistance along the way but gradually winning the acceptance of the German people in the long run.

Those who were seen as unfit to be counted among the German people were dealt with in increasingly brutal terms. The Nazi regime took more and more radical measures against the racially "unfit," including Germany's Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill, "asocial" and "habitual" criminals. After six years of foreign policy brinkmanship that took the Nazi regime from success to success, Hitler's drive to prepare Germany for the war he saw as its destiny reached its fateful hour in September 1939. The war he unleashed was to plunge the world into a maelstrom of genocide and destruction. The Third Reich in Power is the fullest and most authoritative account yet written of how, in six years, Germany was brought to the edge of that terrible abyss.
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 "Nivea, Salamander and Volkswagen - not a happy reading" 2009-09-08
By Grettir Strong
The book is not as dynamic and fascinating as the last book of the trilogy but nevertheless extremely interesting and quite comprehensive. Pretty much all imaginable sides of life in Germany under matured Third Reich are dissected in variety of ways and exposed under different angles of view. Author does his best to stay impartial in his narrative although it is clear that it is not that easy for him to do. Third Reich political system is shown as a tough regime that grows more and more radical, slipping to extreme brutalization towards its own citizens and, eventually, to war.



There are many aspects of that epoch that are relatively well known. Persecution of certain minorities as well as such large scale actions as Night of the Long Knives or Night of Broken Glass would sound familiar (even if vaguely) to many. But Mr. Evans goes much further - he explores less known corners of life then - artistic and literary life, education (both higher and regular), religion and economy. It gets clear that hardly anything was left untouched - even such seemingly other-worldly spheres as mathematics experienced intrusion. Mr. Evans writes that there was an attempt to create some true "German mathematics", which stressed geometry rather than algebra. Somehow geometry, he writes (page 309), "was supposedly more closely related to the ideal human form as expressed in the Aryan racial type". It is not that easy to see how mathematical disciplines other that geometry can be less (or more) related to that ideal, moreover geometry itself (except for maybe elementary one) deals with matters that are so far away from human form in its level of abstraction that it may be possible that whoever was trying to reshape mathematics under Third Reich did not have mathematical education. Another aspect of that reshaping was so-called Aryanization - that phenomenon took place everywhere, but especially in education and economy. Quite eloquent testimony of consequences of that phenomenon at one of the best in the world research facilities can be seen in the dialog between David Hilbert, prominent German mathematician, and Bernhard Rust, Nazi Minister of Education sometime in 1934. Rust asked, "How is mathematics in Göttingen now that it has been freed of the Jewish influence?" Hilbert replied, "Mathematics in Göttingen? There is really none any more." (quoted from Wikipedia).



Interestingly enough, some consumer brands well known today, as Mr. Evans shows, have stamp of Aryanization in their history, namely cosmetic products of Nivea and shoes Salamander. Story of Voklswagen is more complex. Reportedly Adolf Hitler was involved personally in design of a certain model as the book says. What really surprised me is that Volkswagen was in fact available to German consumers and many did own it in 1930s. Viktor Klemperer, whose diaries are frequently quoted across the book, had one and had driven often German famous autobahns in it.



Overall though, the book is not a happy reading. All social innovations by the regime, introduced by Nazi ideology, made lives of many either hard or unbelievably hard with great deal plunged into destitution, forced to flee the country or perished in concentration camps, prisons, or series of pogroms. Each time I look at my neighbor's Golf, I can't help but think about Viktor Klemperer and his rides in his Volkswagen across German countryside shortly before racial policies culminated in Nuremberg Laws that shuttered his life so completely. Mr. Evans' book does a good job in description of that era and generating reflection but one question after the book is finished is left unanswered in its entirety - what should be done to prevent repetition of that episode of the human history? Chances are many readers will formulate that question for themselves and it is very probable that the answer is a very complex one.

 "Germany- Toward the Abyss" 2009-06-25
By Cody Carlson (Salt Lake City, UT United States)
The second volume in Richard J. Evans Third Reich trilogy matches the first for breathtaking scope, attention to detail and truly fine writing. Evans successfully illustrates how the Nazi process of Gleichschaltung (coordination) allowed fascism to permeated every facet of German life. Propaganda, police terror, the Nazi war on the churches, the creation of the racial state, and the preparation for world war are all addressed in all their horrific wonder by the author. This is another important book in the pantheon of Third Reich histories and will no doubt educate the curious for years to come.

 "Evans' opus continues..." 2009-05-27
By Ronald Iden (Tennessee)
The Evans' trilogy on the Third Reich is comprehensive and may well become the definitive general history of that period. An excellent bibliography for more detailed reading, too. With his public works projects and national work camps helping bring Germany out of the depression, you can readily see why Hitler was supported by much of the German populace. There are some frightening comparisons with the Obama administration's socialists tendencies in the latter's actions today.

 "The Third Reich in Power" 2009-04-22
By Allen Smalling (Chicago, IL United States)
THE THIRD REICH IN POWER is the middle of historian Richard J. Evans' trilogy of life and politics under the Nazis (the first deals with their rise to power and the new final volume the experience of war). It is Evans' stated attempt to steer a middle course between dry and highly specialized academic texts on the one hand, and excessively popular (and increasingly outdated) works on the other, and in that it succeeds brilliantly IMHO. I have a major in German studies but was looking for social as well as political history and came away with enhanced knowledge of some aspects of Germany in the Thirties (the inexorable spread of anti-Semitism) and brand-new and fascinating knowledge of others (did you know Hitler had a hand in designing the Autobahns?).



In fact, this book explicitly makes the day-to-day life of average Germans important; not mere nuggets but information and narrative that give the reader an excellent overview. For instance, one wide-ranging program, called "Kraft durch Freude" (Strength through Joy) did everything from build resort hotels and offer cheap rates to (Nazi-approved) groups, to opening up a lay-away program for the newly developed Volkswagen(a plan cut short by war).



And speaking of war, it is impossible not to agree that Hitler started war planning from his first day in office. As medievalist-turned-mystery writer Dorothy Sayers once remarked, the only shock in his annexing the Sudentenland (Bohemia) and perpetuating even worse atrocities is not that Hitler didn't make it quite clear what he intended to do -- it's just that the western democracies chose not to believe him. I highly recommend THE THIRD REICH IN POWER. Whether you read it in hardcover or in paperback, you'll probably want to hang onto this work for a long time to come.

 "Powerful description of THE Evil Empire." 2009-04-19
By Dale P. Henken (Coquille, Oregon)
I had read about the Third Reich but mainly through biographies of Hitler & other histories of the Second World War. Most of these concentrated on Hitler's foreign policies & his war making.



Evans, in his second volume of this large history, has given me a priceless look inside the Third Reich & how the Nazi's took over all aspects of daily life in Germany & how they reordered German society in their image through "co-ordination". I never realized how complete the transformation (or the revolution) of Germany was until Evan's painted this stark portrait. It is a chilling tale.



Now I finally have the answer to a question I have always had. Why was there no organized opposition to Hitler & the Nazis? The establishment of the police state was so thorough & so severe any opposition was quashed. But beyond the repression was the transformation of German society & it was complete.



One of the better vignettes in the book answered another question I had. Why were the Jehovah's Witnesses prosecuted by the Nazis & sent to concentration camps. How could this harmless, little sect be any threat to the might of Third Reich? The answer is actually the key to understanding the basic philosophy of that Third Reich. To know the answer you must read the book.



The book is tough sledding. There is a lot of information & some statistics. It is not necessarily a fun history to read. There is a lot of detail about a lot of different aspects of German life from religion to work to the arts but there must be so much in order for Evan's to paint this picture.



Evan's The Third Reich In Power is the definitive look at the Third Reich for this generation & a long time to come. If you have any interest in the modern history of Germany then you owe it to yourself to read this series.



And the moral or the story is this: be careful who you elect. If they say they are for change then change you could get. But it could be more change than you ever suspected. The German people made a deal with the Devil and the thugs took over. It is a fable of the Twentieth Century for us in the Twenty First.




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The Rough Guide to Scotland 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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Make the most of your time with The Rough Guide to Scotland, your ultimate companion to this stunning country. The full-colour section introduces Scotland’s highlights, from the spectacular wildlife of the Hebrides to the deserted golden beaches in South Harris. Explore the cultural quarters of Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as the open spaces of remote glens, windswept Hebridean beaches and architectural masterpieces. The guide takes a detailed look at Scotland’s history, literature, politics and cultural life with expert background on everything from Mackintosh masterpieces in Glasgow to Munro-bagging in the Glan Shiel Mountains. There''s plenty of practical advice for experiencing the great Scottish outdoors, from whale-watching to mountain biking, sea kayaking, hill-walking and surfing; information on all the best accommodation, transportation and restaurants plus lively reviews of hundreds of shops, bars and clubs. Explore every corner of Scotland with the clearest maps of any guide.

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 "The rough guide to Scotland" 2009-08-11
By Roy Sinclair (New Zealand, Christchurch)
I have a lot of faith in The Rough Guides having relied on them for several countries I have cycled through. This one is up to expectations with interesting sections on the Orkney and Shetland Isles plus the expected titbits on whisky and other items associated with the culture of the Scots.



Scotland delightfully complicates the often confusing English language. for example a hill can be a ben, a mount, a brae or if high enough, a Munro...Munro bagging and other outdoor pursuits are included. Maps a good and so are the selected illustrations. As with all Rough Guides I like the Things not to Miss near the start of the guide. The Rough Guide importantly also helps with the environmental issues of travelling.



Roy Sinclair

 "Very Helpful" 2008-12-29
By Lighting Guy (Las Vegas)
Overall, this helped me and my wife plan ahead tremendously! My only gripe was the small font b/c of sooo much information in the guide. Because of this guide we went and saw Glamis Castle and had one of the best days of our trip! I will be returning again soon to revisit family, but hopefully to get a chance to see more of the highlands and northern Scotland. This guide is coming with me again!

 "Texan loves the Rough Guide/Scotland" 2008-11-17
By S. Palmer (texas, USA)
Not pocket size but not atlas sized either. No travel to Scotttt-land can do without this guide! Here's a glass ta ya.

--DFW

 "The High Road to Scotland..." 2008-06-15
By D. S. Thurlow (Alaska)
"The Rough Guide to Scotland 8" is the very latest edition (June 2008) of a compact and highly informative planning resource for one of the world's great travel destinations. Scotland manages to combine modern, dynamic cities with some of the best-preserved heritage sites of the British Isles and some of the most outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities in Europe.



"The Rough Guide to Scotland" is nicely organized into sections to facilitate vacation planning. An introductory section provides the first-time visitor with some welcome hints on when and where to go, including some can't-miss sites. Next, the guide covers the basics of travel to and within Scotland, accomodation, food, and other travel essentials.



The heart of the guide is a series of 17 regional sections, covering everything from the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to the Central Highlands, remote Northwest Scotland, and the major island groups of Skye, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. Each regional section identifies visitor highlights, backed by narrative, maps, graphics, and black and white photographs to assist in putting together itineraries. Information on individual attractions usually includes operating hours and website addresses. Regional information on accomodation and dining are included.



Scotland may offer something for everyone. The cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow have the latest in shopping and modern culture. The famed Scottish Highlands are easily accessible by road or train, yet offer a broad choice of challenge from the afternoon stroll to the week-long backpacking expedition. Edinburgh has a fascinating array of excellent museums, while large numbers of castles, whether intact or ruined, are open to inspection by the tourist. Even the little border town of Gretna Green offers some interest; it was once England's favorite place for quicky marriages, based on a difference between Scottish and English law, for which it drew mention in a Jane Austen novel.



A concluding section in the guide provides essays on history, music, and books about Scotland. Special color sections scattered through the guide address Scotland's unique architecture, festivals, and outdoor recreation. The quality of maps and city graphics should enable the average tourist to do detailed planning. Those planning to drive and/or hike may wish a driving map or detailed Ordnance Survey charts in addition to what is provided in the guide.



"The Rough Guide to Scotland" is written in standard Rough Guide language, addressed to the average traveler and not shy about expressing opinions on which sights are worthwhile and what to expect in the way of manners and customs. This guide is very highly recommended to those interested in planning a fascinating vacation in Scotland, and as an orientation guide to those fascinated by Scottish culture.

 "A great choice" 2007-02-15
By Julie Fox (SF, CA USA)
Their histories are never as entertaining as Rick Steves', but everything else about them is great for a traveler looking for economic options.


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The Merry Misogynist (Dr. Siri Paiboun)

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Praise for Colin Cotterill:

“[A] series of terrifically beguiling detective novels steeped in local color and history.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A delightfully fresh and eccentric hero.”—John Burdett

“Unpredictable. . . . Tragically funny and magically sublime.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A crack storyteller and an impressive guide to a little-known culture.”—The Washington Post Book World

“This witty and unusual series just keeps getting better.”—Publishers Weekly

“Delightul. A wry, eccentric addition to the genre.”—Booklist (starred review)

Dr. Siri is confronted with a deadly Casanova targeting lovely young women.

In poverty-stricken 1978 Laos, a man with a truck from the city was “somebody,” a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri’s morgue and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped, although her flesh had been torn. And though the victim had clear, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered.

On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that the beautiful female corpse bound to a tree has already risen to the status of a rural myth. This has happened many times before. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon—a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos—only to discover when he has identified the murderer that not only pretty maidens are at risk. Seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims, too.

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 "The Merry Misogynist" 2009-11-24
By M. Boult (Australia)
I love Dr Siri Paiboun, irascible elder, coroner and detective. Colin Cotterill paints his characters with love and humour whilst providing a superb view of life in Laos in the 1970s. In this latest installment Siri is married and his wife is as strong and pleasing a character as he. All the characters are beautifully drawn and two stories are woven through the text. It is such a pleasure to read these books, I can only hope that the next book will be out soon.

 "Life and death after the revolution" 2009-11-17
By Blue (Washington, DC United States)
Author Colin Cotterill's highly original Dr. Siri Paiboun series takes the reader to Laos of the 1970s, where an exhausted population is trying to restart normal life after an long civil war that has brought an ill-equipped Communist Party to power. Siri Paiboun is a physician who spent the war years with the Communist side operating hospitals out of caves and forests. The new government has made him the country's National Coroner. In the that position, the aging and more than slightly politically disillusioned doctor has become a criminal investigator--largely because dead bodies keep arriving at his morgue under the strangest of circumstances.



In the latest installment of this wonderfully inventive crime saga, Dr. Siri, joined by his new wife, Madame Daeng, and other colorful colleagues, resolves to solve the murder of beautiful young woman that eventually proves to be the the work of a serial killer. At the same time Siri has other problems to resolve which include the disappearance of a brilliant homeless man and bureaucratic harassment over the motley population living in his officially allotted villa.



The murder investigation is as tightly written and original as any you will find in modern mystery writing and leads to an "ah ha" moment that you do not see coming. The trail to denouement is extremely clever and respects the reader's intelligence all the way. But the best part of this book--and its precedessors--is the presentation of the characters who are uniformly well developed and interesting. There is great wit and compassion in these stories and rarely a false note in their telling.



I haven't read all of the Siri stories yet, but enough to discern a growing strength in Colin Cotterill's writing skills that makes me hanker for the next book in the series. It is bound to be a good one.

 "Always entertaining" 2009-09-14
By S. Turner (Seattle)
My husband and I anxiously await for each volume of the Dr. Siri Paiboun books. They are humorous and entertaining to read. It is interesting to learn about Laos after the communist take over. Very well written and thought provoking.

 "Another great read by Colin Cotterill" 2009-09-14
By Sandra S. Ansley (Warwick, New York United States)
This is a delightful book by Colin Cotterill. The plot is interesting and engaging and the characters are delightful and well drawn. It gave me a glimpse into a part of Asia I did not know anything about.

 "Witty, Wily, and Wise" 2009-09-05
By Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States)
Like the Laotian septuagenarian protagonist Dr. Siri Paiboun, this is a series that isn't getting older, just better. And, with "The Merry Misogynist", darker.



The corpse of a beautiful teenage girl shows up in Dr. Siri's morgue, found bound to a tree and strangled with pink ribbon. The condition of the body defies logical explanation, while even deeper mysteries await Siri's autopsy tools. Following some rudimentary investigation, the Columbo-like coroner concludes the poor girl's fate is not an isolated incident, but the grisly work of a serial killer undiscovered for over a decade.



In contrast to the more somber, "Silence of the Lambs-like" tone of this installment, Colin Cotterill's dialog, always snappy and cynically humorous, reaches new levels as Siri, with his elderly but equally spry new bride Madam Daeng, spars in rich and playful verbal combat - nearly a Southeast Asian version of Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard. Cotterill will never disappoint in atmosphere and culture, and again brings a vibrant but forgotten Laos to life, the setting playing as important a role as the finely drawn characters and twisting plot of this little gem. His wry observations of life in a soulless Communist state, sucked colorless by socialism's silly tyrannies masquerading as equality, should sober even the most idealist liberal ("...how wonderful it was to live in a state where the actual person was no longer important.") But Cotterill's goal is not to preach politics, simply to entertain, and he succeeds with honors, spinning a fine balance between mystery, humor, and setting, spinning in enough suspense zigs and a Hitchcockian zags to keep the pages turning.



Colin Cotterill is a talented author, and his "Dr. Siri" series is arguably the freshest, most interesting new fiction to hit the shelves this century. It is a shame that writing and storytelling of this quality remains mostly undiscovered literature - one can hope the author and his canny Laotian coroner will eventually get the recognition they deserve.




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