Customer Reviews

Noble Lies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fast-paced and fun, with an engagingly flawed hero, well drawn supporting characters and villains, authentic background detail, and a plot that pulls you along a twisty path. Highly recommended.

Former Gulf War I veteran Mark Rohr works as a bouncer in the resort community Phuket, Thailand. Fellow American Robin Antonucci offers Mark five thousand dollars to find her missing brother Shawn Keller, who vanished after the horrific tsunami devastated Phuket a couple of years ago.

Mark agrees although he does not trust Robin as something is OUT OF ORDER with her request leading him to believe she is not telling him the full truth. She explains her sibling is a diver so they visit diving shops and business that employ divers. They also investigate whorehouses and sleazy bars. Every person they question offers nothing except trouble as someone, perhaps the target of their search, wants Shawn to remain MIA.

The key to this Thai thriller besides the fabulous location is that the prime players especially the hero and the villains have good and bad qualities that make them seem real. The story line is fast-paced and filled with red herrings and incredible but plausible twists that will keep the audience reading in anticipation of the next spin. Fans will appreciate Charles Benoit as he continues to earn the reputation of an overseas travel guide to action and adventure (see OUT OF ORDER and RELATIVE DANGER).

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed the setting of this novel very much, and I enjoyed the characters. The plot, however, was somewhat disappointing: no turn of events seemed unexpected or unpredictable. I felt as if I had read this book before, or, more likely, seen a plot something like it on television. The setting and characters were sufficiently interesting, though, that I would try another novel by this author.

Charles Benoit's third book (Noble Lies) brought back memories from his impressive first book (Relative Danger) with an action packed plot and vivid descriptions of exotic locales. Similar in style to a Mack Bolan type book, Benoit goes the extra mile by providing the reader extensive details of Thai culture. I give only a sling ding to a general lack of character development. The main characters never fully provoked much emotion as the story unfolded where I would feel a sad loss when characters suffered or joy when an antagonist was defeated. Overall, a very nice read and looking forward to another adventure.

The author has a good feel for Thailand that really makes this book. He sets the book in the South Thai beach resort area and knows enough about the area to make the details ring true. He also gets the delicate relationship between the local crime bosses and the police right. As with all the author's previous works it is the details of exotic locations that make the tale above average. One difference is that in this book the main character has been bouncing around the world since Desert Storm. In the others the hero was always a naif thrust by circumstances into fending for himelf in foreign locales. I like the naifs better but you'll still enjoy this one.

After various adventures in a number of other parts of the world, including having served as a Marine during Desert Storm, Mark Rohr finds himself working as a bouncer in a Thai bar when he is fired for overzealously performing his duties. But the bar's owner and bartender, a long-time friend, steers him onto a job assisting a woman who is looking for her brother a year after the tsunami.

The client offers him $500 a week and a $5,000 bonus if he finds the brother, who Mark believes was either lost to the giant wave or doesn't want to be found. The quest is complicated by a top gangster who also has a vested interest in finding the brother. And the race is on along the pirate-infested waters of Thailand and Malaysia. It is an exciting chase, filled with graphic descriptions of the devastation brought on by the tsunami, as well as the poverty and corruption in the country.

This novel is the third featuring globe-trotting Rohr, ranging from Singapore and the Raffles Hotel to Casablanca and Cairo, then to India and elsewhere. In each, he introduces a number of surprises, and Noble Lies is no exception. This reader could not even begin to anticipate how he would bring the novel to such a conclusion.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (6/07)


Hard drinking, decorated Marine, Desert Storm veteran, Mark Rohr was working as a bouncer in a bar in Thailand when Robin Antonucci came into his life. She wanted to hire him to help her find her brother, Shawn Keller. She shows him a videotape of a news report of the Tsunami that devastated Thailand. The video showed that he was alive.

Their search leads them to a bar where they meet a woman, Pim, that claims to be Shawn's wife and she insists she can take them to him. Pim was adamant about bringing her nephew and grandfather. Mark knows something is not quite right. Two men are following them. Shawn was into excitement stuff. Robin knew Shawn had used drugs, but she was sure he was clean now. She knew he liked to go where drugs could be bought cheap. Robin had no idea what Shawn was really into. He had become involved with Jarin, a treacherous criminal who was determined to get to Shawn. What she does not know could get them all killed. Could Robin have an ulterior motive?

"Noble Lies" by Charles Benoit is a fast-paced, action-packed, edge-of-your-seat novel. The plot is well-developed and set on the backdrop of Thailand. Benoit brings the devastation of the Tsunami to life, recounting the disaster through the eyes of survivors. The characters are well-developed. The unlikely hero, Mark Rohr, is a cynic; the Desert Storm veteran is multidimensional. I did not expect the pirates; they brought an interesting twist to the plot. This is not your usual mystery. Benoit is an extremely talented writer. I highly recommend "Noble Lies" to fans of mystery and suspense.

Received book free of charge.

Desert Storm vet Mark Rohr is now is post-tsunami Thailand. American Robin Antonucci want to hire him to find her brother, Shawn, who has been missing since the tsunami but Robin is certain she saw on a recent news video. What seems to be easy money quickly turns complicated with a Thai prostitute Pim claiming to be Shawn's wife, her elderly man and small boy, the surviving members of Pim's family, to protect from Jarin, a notorious gangster. Something about Robin's story just doesn't sit right either.

Benoit's major skill is sense of place. He gives us an uncompromising picture of post-tsunami Thailand and life among the homeless, dispossessed and criminal, and then takes us on a fast-paced trip half-way around the world. He also creates well developed, interesting characters, in whom I became invested. Finally, he gives us a high-action, unpredictable story with plenty of twists, turns and suspense to keep me turning the pages. I'll admit Benoit's first book, "Relative Danger" is still my favorite of his, but there's no question that the man can write.

I loved 'Noble Lies', the title is very appropriate for the Thai Culture. Benoit's mini-lessons in Thai culture were accurate. And best of all, it was a fun trip through some of the places I want to visit on my next trip to Thailand. While I hated it to end it worked well and I did not see it coming. Read it first, then go play.