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Philippine Fever
Harv Tucker, good ol? boy from Oklahoma, sells primo roosters in Manila, the world's cockfighting capital. With his profits he buys Chinese AK-47's, then sells them to paramilitary groups. When his body turns up behind one of Manila's notorious sex clubs, the ensuing homicide investigation becomes international. Sam Haine, decorated ATF agent, teams up with a world-weary Filipino detective, Bogie Lorenzano. Though Sam is a fish out of water in the Philippines, and Bogie doesn't care if Sam goes belly up, the two cops share a strong sense of justice. Many players vie for the container-load of guns, and traffic sex-slaves, buy indentured workers, sell industrial secrets, and arrange kidnappings for ransom. It's all just business. Then Sam discovers that US intelligence may be involved with competing rebel groups and Bogie finds that his ex-lover is deeply involved in the crime syndicates, and the action heats up.
A riveting tale as contemporary as tomorrow's breaking dawn. Bruce Cook is a major talent. -- Kent Braithwaite, The Wonderland Murders
A wild, convincing ride of a crime novel peopled with characters who stick long after the story ends. Cook needs to write another one---this cast should return. -- Kirk Russell, Deadgame
I couldn't put it down. We eagerly look forward to more! -- Kim Reis, Armchair Interviews.com
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2006
8 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Cook
2 books1 followerBruce Cook also writes as Brant Randall.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2013
It is possible that through this book I've found my true calling. I will become a novelist in the mystery genre, like this author Bruce Cook with his first book about an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) sent to Manila, Philippines, to investigate the unsolved death of a fellow American, Harvey Tucker, found dead, with multiple injuries screaming bloody murder.
While the agent Sam Heine investigates Harvey Tucker's death, I proceeded to investigate why Bruce Cook wrote this novel. To test my prowess, I used only this book, no googling of anything. No letters, emails or phone calls to Mr. Cook even if the book itself seemingly invites its readers to get in touch with him via www.brucecookonline.com.
Like most books, this one tells only very little about the author. It does not tell why he wrote this novel but one sentence at once arrested the innate sleuth in me. It reads: "Bruce Cook worked in Manila where he researched the material for Philippine Fever." Aha! He didn't go to Manila to research for this book, he went there to work. And while working, for undisclosed reasons, he "researched" the materials for this novel. Hmmmn, quite intriguing.
I then went to the Dedication portion. Mr. Cook dedicates the book "first for my wife Robin, who is always my earliest and most supportive reader." Another tantalizing lead. So Mr. Cook has a wife whom he left in the US while he was in the Philippines working!
How about the blurbs, is there anything there which can help support my hypothesis? Yes! One of them reads:
"Violence, and weapons, and sex...oh my!
-- Dorothy"
Dorothy who? Just plain Dorothy. Take note that that is not Mr. Cook's wife whose name is revealed in the Dedication portion as Robin. Dorothy, of course, is a girl's name. Very common in the Philippines. And of the many blurbs therein, it was she alone who waxed enthusiastically about the sex in the novel.
Where are all these leading to? To my hypothesis which, I believe, has solved the underlying mystery of why this novel was written. If confronted with these pieces of evidence, I am confident that Mr. Cook will break down under interrogation and confess to his crime: while away from home, ostensibly working in Manila, he frequented its girlie bars and met a lot of women, had sex with them, one of whom was named Dorothy. His wife got wind of his shenanigans so he took on the only defense available to him: he did all that because he was "researching" on a novel where the hero, an ATF agent named Sam, had to roam around the underbelly of this notorious city (the Gateway to Hell, according to Dan Brown) and consort with prostitutes, corrupt policemen and politicians, local crime lords and the like. And when the expected followup question arose why, if he was indeed researching on a novel spending night after night inside bars and known prostitution dens, he has not come up with anything yet, he did all he could to save his marriage and wrote this, his very first novel!
The title he chose was also a dead giveaway: Philippine Fever--alluding to, perhaps, the feverish extramarital sex he had enjoyed in the freedom he had in Manila, away from the prying eyes of his wife and acquaintances, where he was able to do what he had long wanted to do with impunity.
This was first published in 2006 and the characters themselves are in a modern setting, well within the google era. Mr. Cook's alibi is therefore busted. For if he really spent time in Manila researching materials for this novel he would not have committed the factual mistakes he did commit and put on paper through this novel.
First, there's this long highway traversing almost all the big cities comprising Metro Manila popularly known as EDSA (named after a local hero or sorts, Epifanio Delos Santos--the "A" is for avenue). Mr. Cook strangely does not refer to it as EDSA. He calls it EpifaniA Delos Santos Avenue (a girl hero).
Second, is the Muslim separatist group called the MILF, or the MORO Islamic Liberation Front. Moro being the Muslims living in the Philippines. Mr. Cook however says the MILF stands for Mindoro Independence Liberation Front and claims that "Mindoro" is a local name for Filipino Muslims. Mindoro is, however, a Philippine province with a predominantly Christian population. The error is as funny as, say, a Filipino writing a similar crime novel based in the US and saying that CIA stands for Colorado Internal Agency.
Third, the cockfighting scene (p.54). He describes a match of two rounds, like a boxing match, with new bets made between the first and the second round. In reality, bets are made only once, before the cocks are released, and they do not fight in two or more rounds.
Fourth, the name of the cockpit. Mr. Cook gives it as "Maligay Tandang" for "Happy Rooster." The correct Tagalog translation should be "MALIGAYANG Tandang."
Fifth, the hilarious "bagoong" scene. "Bagoong" is actually just shrimp paste (salty, made of very small shrimps preserved in salt). No Filipino eats it by itself, as it is usually made to go with unripe mango or as condiment to some dishes. Here (pp.90 -91), however, he makes a Filipina describe "bagoong" to Sam as "shrimp EGGS...sort of like caviar." Sam ingested a spoonful and he was assaulted by its supposed "overwhelming flavor." (as if a spoonful of salt could be anything but salty).
Sixth, two characters having breakfast and buying street food: fish heads, skewered on bamboo sticks, grilled with their eyes bubbling. No such thing. Fish heads are made into broths, not grilled. Besides, think of how difficult it is to skewer fish heads and grill them!
Seventh, he has twenty-peso COINS (p.115). No such thing in the country, too. Only twenty-peso BILLS.
Eight, the fastfood diner called Jollibee--conqueror of the mighty McDonald's in the Philippines, he refers to as Jolli Bee; KFC sells ribs too (but no, not in the Philippines, at least).
There are a lot of other factual errors which would not have been committed had Mr. Cook been really researching. But he made no similar errors as regards bars, what goes on inside, how to get girls, their prices, the name of the local beer, and he spells "puki"--the Tagalog word for pussy--right.
You're done for, Mr. Cook. Confess now to your wife!
While the agent Sam Heine investigates Harvey Tucker's death, I proceeded to investigate why Bruce Cook wrote this novel. To test my prowess, I used only this book, no googling of anything. No letters, emails or phone calls to Mr. Cook even if the book itself seemingly invites its readers to get in touch with him via www.brucecookonline.com.
Like most books, this one tells only very little about the author. It does not tell why he wrote this novel but one sentence at once arrested the innate sleuth in me. It reads: "Bruce Cook worked in Manila where he researched the material for Philippine Fever." Aha! He didn't go to Manila to research for this book, he went there to work. And while working, for undisclosed reasons, he "researched" the materials for this novel. Hmmmn, quite intriguing.
I then went to the Dedication portion. Mr. Cook dedicates the book "first for my wife Robin, who is always my earliest and most supportive reader." Another tantalizing lead. So Mr. Cook has a wife whom he left in the US while he was in the Philippines working!
How about the blurbs, is there anything there which can help support my hypothesis? Yes! One of them reads:
"Violence, and weapons, and sex...oh my!
-- Dorothy"
Dorothy who? Just plain Dorothy. Take note that that is not Mr. Cook's wife whose name is revealed in the Dedication portion as Robin. Dorothy, of course, is a girl's name. Very common in the Philippines. And of the many blurbs therein, it was she alone who waxed enthusiastically about the sex in the novel.
Where are all these leading to? To my hypothesis which, I believe, has solved the underlying mystery of why this novel was written. If confronted with these pieces of evidence, I am confident that Mr. Cook will break down under interrogation and confess to his crime: while away from home, ostensibly working in Manila, he frequented its girlie bars and met a lot of women, had sex with them, one of whom was named Dorothy. His wife got wind of his shenanigans so he took on the only defense available to him: he did all that because he was "researching" on a novel where the hero, an ATF agent named Sam, had to roam around the underbelly of this notorious city (the Gateway to Hell, according to Dan Brown) and consort with prostitutes, corrupt policemen and politicians, local crime lords and the like. And when the expected followup question arose why, if he was indeed researching on a novel spending night after night inside bars and known prostitution dens, he has not come up with anything yet, he did all he could to save his marriage and wrote this, his very first novel!
The title he chose was also a dead giveaway: Philippine Fever--alluding to, perhaps, the feverish extramarital sex he had enjoyed in the freedom he had in Manila, away from the prying eyes of his wife and acquaintances, where he was able to do what he had long wanted to do with impunity.
This was first published in 2006 and the characters themselves are in a modern setting, well within the google era. Mr. Cook's alibi is therefore busted. For if he really spent time in Manila researching materials for this novel he would not have committed the factual mistakes he did commit and put on paper through this novel.
First, there's this long highway traversing almost all the big cities comprising Metro Manila popularly known as EDSA (named after a local hero or sorts, Epifanio Delos Santos--the "A" is for avenue). Mr. Cook strangely does not refer to it as EDSA. He calls it EpifaniA Delos Santos Avenue (a girl hero).
Second, is the Muslim separatist group called the MILF, or the MORO Islamic Liberation Front. Moro being the Muslims living in the Philippines. Mr. Cook however says the MILF stands for Mindoro Independence Liberation Front and claims that "Mindoro" is a local name for Filipino Muslims. Mindoro is, however, a Philippine province with a predominantly Christian population. The error is as funny as, say, a Filipino writing a similar crime novel based in the US and saying that CIA stands for Colorado Internal Agency.
Third, the cockfighting scene (p.54). He describes a match of two rounds, like a boxing match, with new bets made between the first and the second round. In reality, bets are made only once, before the cocks are released, and they do not fight in two or more rounds.
Fourth, the name of the cockpit. Mr. Cook gives it as "Maligay Tandang" for "Happy Rooster." The correct Tagalog translation should be "MALIGAYANG Tandang."
Fifth, the hilarious "bagoong" scene. "Bagoong" is actually just shrimp paste (salty, made of very small shrimps preserved in salt). No Filipino eats it by itself, as it is usually made to go with unripe mango or as condiment to some dishes. Here (pp.90 -91), however, he makes a Filipina describe "bagoong" to Sam as "shrimp EGGS...sort of like caviar." Sam ingested a spoonful and he was assaulted by its supposed "overwhelming flavor." (as if a spoonful of salt could be anything but salty).
Sixth, two characters having breakfast and buying street food: fish heads, skewered on bamboo sticks, grilled with their eyes bubbling. No such thing. Fish heads are made into broths, not grilled. Besides, think of how difficult it is to skewer fish heads and grill them!
Seventh, he has twenty-peso COINS (p.115). No such thing in the country, too. Only twenty-peso BILLS.
Eight, the fastfood diner called Jollibee--conqueror of the mighty McDonald's in the Philippines, he refers to as Jolli Bee; KFC sells ribs too (but no, not in the Philippines, at least).
There are a lot of other factual errors which would not have been committed had Mr. Cook been really researching. But he made no similar errors as regards bars, what goes on inside, how to get girls, their prices, the name of the local beer, and he spells "puki"--the Tagalog word for pussy--right.
You're done for, Mr. Cook. Confess now to your wife!
July 13, 2016
I need to clarify that my Dad is married to a Filipina. She is smart, kind, and very independent. She is a great companion to my Dad.
My Dad had mentioned how bad the poverty and sex trade was in the Philippines. I am not ignorant with such things. Nor am I ignorant on some of the country's history.
That said. Wow, this novel did not candy coat anything. The author describes the emmense poverty, horrifying sex exploitation, cultural attitudes, and commonplace corruption. It was a disturbing, eye openning novel.
My Dad had mentioned how bad the poverty and sex trade was in the Philippines. I am not ignorant with such things. Nor am I ignorant on some of the country's history.
That said. Wow, this novel did not candy coat anything. The author describes the emmense poverty, horrifying sex exploitation, cultural attitudes, and commonplace corruption. It was a disturbing, eye openning novel.
September 25, 2012
A great change of pace if you like crime novels in foreign locales. Many fall short because they're written in foreign languages and slaughtered in translation, but Cook is an American who lived for a while in Manila and brings the best of both worlds to this excellent thriller.
November 16, 2013
Bruce Cook (no relation--at least that we talk about) knows a lot about the Philippines, and after you read his story of murder, suspense and lowlifes, you may know enough about the country to never want to go there. However, like with a lot of things, it's fun to take a peek as long as you don't get contaminated. Not for people with weak stomachs.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews