Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Charles Sobhraj (born 6 April 1944), also known as the Bikini Killer, is a French thief, fraudster and serial killer. He preyed on Western tourists throughout Southeast Asia during the 1970s. He was nicknamed The Splitting Killer and The Serpent. Sobhraj allegedly committed at least a dozen murders. He was convicted and jailed in India […]
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The Green Panthers – Ebooks of my new dystopian thriller are currently 99cents at Kobo. Get your copy while stocks last…. Meet Clara Green, Emerald, Chartreuse, Olive, Hunter, Juniper and Forest. They are The Green Panthers: a privately sponsored, multi-national underground army, on a mission to hold corporate polluters to account. During the attempted rescue […]
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My latest story in Nikkei Asia follows a Canadian/French couple who set out to walk from Europe to Australia to remind the world that travel is more than a commodity. They sometimes walked up to 14 hours a day, got lost in the jungles of Laos and were involved in a fatal bus crash in […]
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Leah Lindeman at Single Book Review kindly reviewed Kolkata Noir, which she calls a love story steeped in mystery and intrigue against the backdrop of India’s rich culture. Big thanks. Watch the full review here. Buy Kolkata Noir.
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Happy New Year! Very excited that Colman’s Criminal Library reviewed Kolkata Noir. Kolkata Noir was a really enjoyable outing for me, not least because of its setting of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). With the exception of a couple of Brian Stoddart books (A Madras Miasma and The Pallampur Predicament) read years ago I haven’t visited India at […]
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In the 1990s and 2000s, I recorded & documented disappearing musical traditions from South and Southeast Asia for The British Library. British Library Audio Project Cataloguer Jim Hickson has written a wonderful article about one of my recordings from India – music performed not only in a temple, but also on a temple. The Shri […]
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The Hard Hat Book Site has a wonderful review of The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu/ Thanks! Young hippies growing old! As if it is not bad enough that we lose our youth and can’t go back, we also have to cope with the fact that our youth still reserves the right to hang around and […]
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Thanks for a great review: …The highlights of the novel for me were the unique and crazy characters as well as Vater’s keen eye for details. Vater definitely utilizes impressive descriptions coupled with believable and realistic dialogue to create an atmosphere that completely sucks you in from the very beginning. At times you really feel […]
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Was Stanley reviewed Kolkata Noir this week. Thanks! At 148 pages in paperback, 150 pages in hardcover, and an estimated 208 swipes on your favourite eReader, Kolkata Noir is anything but a lengthy read. When picking up the book, I had only intended to read part one, then return to it later, for parts two […]
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Coming soon – A Blackthorn Book Tour of: The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu ‘Acid trips, border crossings, road weariness, the adventurous optimism of youth and the limitations of middle aged wisdom…’ Buy The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu here.
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