BUDDHA'S MONEY

Corporal George Sue§o and Sergeant Ernie Bascom, of the US Army’s CID in South Korea, are up to their old tricks as loose cannons (Slicky Boys, 1997, etc.). What better way, they ask, “to defend against stupid rules?” On a typically frenetic night in suburban Seoul, their assignment is to work the black-market detail. Target: off-duty GIs swapping PX liquor for illicit sex. But suddenly all bets are off. “Something bad happen,” says one of the “business girls,” and willy-nilly Sue§o and Bascom are into their maverick mode. Improvising happily, they go chasing up back alleys after several large men of suspicious intent. Against orders? Of course, but that’s what mavericks do to separate themselves from lesser men. And it’s what makes Sue§o and Bascom the hotshot investigators they are—the Army’s best, in their opinion. One mystery leads to another. They link a roughed-up Buddhist nun to the kidnaping of a little girl—which, in turn, is connected to the disappearance of a bizarre though priceless icon, which is being hotly pursued by several bloodthirsty factions. One of the pursuers is a Dragon Lady look-alike, whose focus on the icon is total, but who nevertheless manages to capture Sue§o’s heart with her slinky figure, obligatory high cheekbones, and defiant black eyes. There are punch-outs, shoot-outs, and mindless action-adventure aplenty before all the cardboard bad guys meet deservedly bad ends. A fast-mover, hurtling from one violent/grisly scene to the next. There’s little here, though, besides pace, to hold a reader’s attention. Gaudy and derivative.