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…
Assessment:
Plot: Fast-paced, action-packed, and filled with twists, this thriller hits all of the expected story beats for its sort of story, providing an unsurprising yet entertaining experience.
Prose: Keegan has a knack for describing setting and action, though there’s an emphasis on characters’ physicality rather than their psyches, which suits this thriller’s cinematic nature.
Originality: This gritty dive into the world of human trafficking and systematic corruption in Thailand doesn’t hold back, its dauntless hero risking life and limb to fulfill his mission and rescue scores of missing Caucasian women from sexual exploitation. However, this book’s portrayal of its East Asian setting and characters, and the contrast of its white protagonist against this backdrop, may come across as culturally insensitive to some readers.
Character/Execution: Rough around the edges and politically incorrect, Australian Interpol agent Dan Porter is fearless, muleheaded, and stalwart—a typical action hero, and as such, isn’t as well-developed as he could be. Most of the supporting cast feel shallow and exist to serve the plot.
Date Submitted: August 25, 2020
