It’s never easy getting Dean Barrett, author of a surprisingly vast array of books on Asian subjects, away from his favorite haunt at Bangkok’s Chao Phya 2. That’s why we here at WoWasis were pleased that he found time to pen another book in his Scott Sterling mystery series, Permanent Damage (2010, ISBN 978-0-9788888-2-4). 

At 382 pages, it’s a robust page-turner, the story of a series of crimes that originally began in war-era Vietnam, and continue through to present-day Bangkok. There are the usual dodgy characters that Barrett loves, comprising ex-military and ex and current spooks, spiked with romance, death, and plenty of compelling plot twists. Essentially, the story revolves around a Western woman coming to Bangkok to find the killer of her father. But in the usual Barrett style, nothing is really as it seems. There’s plenty of local color, much of it occurring in an expat bar in Bangkok’s Washington Square. The author’s done his spook homework, too, knowing, for example, that all mobile phones act as microphones even when turned off, unless their batteries are removed. We especially loved his treatment of the character of Chu-hua, a previous love-interest of Sterling’s, a protagonist who seems to be working simultaneously for everyone. 

Our only fault with the book was that it could have used a better proof-reader, as some of the names are mis-stated, and some of the grammar is skewed.  Barrett’s a real wordsmith, but authors can be their own worst proofreaders (we know, it’s happened to us, too). As another reviewer stated, “if you read this book be prepared to do some detective work on your own.” The reader can get through it, however, and the book’s a good one, and worth reading. Barrett’s amalgamation of the military, intelligence, and go-go bar worlds is always fascinating, and there’s not a boring page in the book. Buy it now at the WoWasis estore, powered by Amazon.