Sean Bunzick
Sean Bunzick is a Chiang Mai-based writer, originally from Cape Cod, MA, who has written several very good adventure novels that detail the exploits of expat veterans embroiled in “undocumented” military operations involving the Southeast Asian underworld.
With his latest book Dangerous Junk For Sail (2006, ISBN 1-4259-4949), Bunzick has made the quantum leap from being a decent writer to one who has mastered the craft of adventure fiction.
Junk again features the exploits of John Harwich, an Vietnam-era Special Ops expat living in Thailand.
In a plot having as many twists as Lombard Street, Harwich falls into a maelstrom of depravity and intrigue involving nefarious navy officials and ex-special ops guys gone sour.
Here, you’ll visit one of the nastiest “resorts” in literature, a secretive compound where people are killed for sport, protected by huge profits being funneled to its military protectors.
The plot involves Harwich following three farang women who’ve been lured into the mix.
Ultimately, Harwich proves to be a remarkable hero, but is he thanked adequately by those he assisted?
We’ll leave it up to you to decide, in a deliciously twisted ending that provides for some extremely satisfying reading.
Bunzick clearly shows an understanding of the muddy affairs that permeate Southeast Asian military and political establishments in this tour de force.
Bunzick’s Air Thermae (2005, ISBN 1-4208-6249-9) involves the same team of expat vet punters, off the rails this time in Cambodia, with loads of inside jokes and bar terms that will be familiar to all who’ve spent any time at all on Bangkok’s Soi 4.
His second book is an evolution over the first, with juicy descriptions like this:
“Harwich glanced at him and concluded he was a Khao San Road Special: VC-style sandals, torn jeans, a tie-dye T-shirt that appeared allergic to soap, dreadlocks that would be cool on Bob Marley but were asinine on a farang, several earrings, and a Winston that kept getting dragged on when the backpacker wasn’t ranting away.
Harwich was further amused when he saw a beat-up copy of The Beach sticking halfway out of the guy’s backpack.”
Well-written and occasionally hilarious, protagonist John Harwich and friends engage in secret ops in Laos in conjunction with an opium warlord in Missing in Asia (2003, ISBN 1-4140-2163-1).
Readers will see a clear evolution of Bunzick’s writing craft when comparing this book to Junk, written in 2006. As his books make references to events occurring in previous books, the reader is encouraged to read Missing to get a baseline for his fascinating group of characters.