Noble Lies

Starred review from July 16, 2007
Benoit (Out of Order
) is at the top of his game in his witty third novel as he once again explores the travails of Americans abroad. Mark Rohr, a first Gulf War veteran now bouncing for a bar in the coastal resort of Phuket, Thailand, is a natural action hero. The damsel in distress is the pretty, blonde and very American Robin Antonucci, who offers Mark $5,000 to help her locate her brother, Shawn Keller, missing since the mighty tsunami inundated Phuket. Naturally, nothing and no one is exactly what it seems as Mark and Robin, linked by mutual distrust and different needs, visit dives and diving shops, deal with gangsters and pirates and manage to stir up trouble everywhere they look. Benoit’s good guys have their faults and the bad guys have surprising virtues, leaving room for lots of unusual twists and turns. The lovingly rendered exotic locale is the perfect setting for this rough and rollicking story of adventure and romance.