Crime and Suffering (Behind the Scenes Book 1)

Behind the Scenes:Crime and Sufferingis the first of a four-book, fact

based-suspense novelseries which exposes the criminal exploitation of the

people behind the facadeof many of the tourist paradises in Southeast Asia.

The books describe howthe poor in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos do their

best to survive, oftenby growing opium, smuggling weapons and selling their

daughters to brothels,sometimes before they are even born.

The plight of thesepeople is made more complicated because this criminality

is often sanctioned byofficial organisations in existence to protect them, not

to take advantage ofthem.

Crime and Suffering begins the series focusing on onepoor family from a

small village in Laosduring a time of increasing drama in the aftermath of the

Vietnam War:

- Grandfather Songchaiand his efforts to smuggle a transport of hidden arms

to buyers in west Africawith the help of old friends and family members.

- Lu, hisdaughter-in-law, helps two Americans, Will and Frank, who seek the

remains of US soldierslost in the War which means fatal consequences.

- Prim, Lu's daughter,and her antics with teenage friends Lek and Moa who

end up on a frighteningpath heading towards the bars of the sex trade.

The characters' fatesare interweaved in a colourful and harsh narrative that

moves toward itsresolution as relentlessly as the mighty Mekong River flows

forth.

The series is inspiredby real people and based on real life stories.