CHASING THE BANGKOK DRAGON

A DEA desk agent is forced into the field in Karl’s thriller.

In the mid-1980s, during President Reagan’s War on Drugs, Thomas Sebastian works as a researcher at the Drug Enforcement Administration. The role means a lot to him (his brother dies of an overdose), but he has no combat or field experience—the only thing close is a stint he served in the Peace Corps, in Thailand. It turns out that his Thai language abilities are just what the DEA needs for a drug bust in Bangkok. Thomas goes through a hellish few weeks of combat training and assumes a new identity: Robert Jordan. “Robert” travels to Bangkok and meets his new team, which includes a Thai agent and ex-detective, an American woman who’s a remarkably fierce combatant, and their overseer, who keeps spirits up. Their jobs are complicated, requiring them to avoid angering the local police as well as the city’s drug cartels as they snoop around and break into potential drug sites (Robert must act as if can’t speak Thai). Soon, Robert encounters violence he knows he’s not cut out for and meets an alluring woman at a local cafe who may or may not be an informant (“He breathed in her perfume—jasmine”). It’s difficult to negotiate everyone’s competing interests, and Robert finds himself in way over his head. The story is fairly straightforward, buoyed by political discussions and humor, and the characters are funny and easy to root for. There’s an odd lack of suspense and danger, though—the actual destructive effects of the drug trafficking aren’t seen much on the page, and they aren’t often used to further the plot, beyond justifying backstories. A tense shoot-out happens near the end of the novel, but it doesn’t land as well as it should because the stakes don’t feel high enough to justify the impact the scene seems to intend. Additionally, some of the characters (particularly those who are Thai, female, or both) are predictable and stereotypical. Still, this is a competent, enjoyable thriller with some substance, and spy novel fans will likely enjoy it—particularly those with an interest in the 1980s and Thailand.

A well-crafted, diverting thriller.