Noble Lies

by Charles Benoit

For Mark Rohr, a decorated Desert Storm vet, the last ten years have been filled with shady jobs like his current stint as a bouncer at a nameless whorehouse/bar in Thailand. When the beautiful and naïve Robin Antonucci arrives in Phuket City from the States and hires him to help find her missing brother Shawn, Mark sees the chance to make some easy money.

247 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

When he's not traveling around the globe in the search of exotic, tax-deductible settings for his mysteries, Charles Benoit spends his days pumping out subliminal-laced advertising.
Nominated for an Edgar and a Barry, Relative Danger won the Franklin award and was the darling of fans and critics alike. Out of Order (2006) is set in modern India while Noble Lies (September 2007) takes place in Thailand.

Reviews

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid fast moving story with some interesting twists along the way. The story is set in Thailand and the author obviously knows the country and its culture very well. The title Noble Lies comes from Thai culture, where it is better to provide an answer, even if it is wrong, rather than not provide any answer and admit you don't know. The narrator was excellent and added to my enjoyment of the book.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of an interesting location (Thailand and Malaysia) for a thriller. Perhaps the story gets a little weak towards the end with the hero conquers all type finish of most thrillers. Up to the end our hero showed remarkable gullible streak and a just a little stupidity for a true "John Wayne" type.

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has lots of action, surprises, and deceptions in the underbelly of several 3rd world countries, where a former American combat soldier has learned how to survive.

[Jerry]

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[Carl Brookins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is your classic John Wayne type Western–except it’s an Eastern, set in Thailand. A big stalwart ex-Marine, down on his luck is forced to take on seedy and questionable jobs in order to maintain life. Approached by a beautiful woman unschooled in the ways of the culture, the man is encouraged, if not almost forced, to become her protector. His name is Mark Rohr, a Desert Storm veteran, hanging out in a pickup bar in Phuket City where he keeps the peace among the drunks, whores, bar-girls and assorted tourists who wander in by pure mistake. It’s several steps down from another bar/bordello on the strip called The Horny Monkey.

Enter gorgeous Robin Antonucci from Ohio. She’s looking for her long-lost brother from whom she’s heard nothing, nada, since the Tsunami, which sporting no conscience whatever, wiped a lot of Easterners, Westerners, normal Thais, and assorted evil flotsam right off the face of the earth. However, as readers will quickly learn, Thailand and its people recover and things are back to normal. That is to say, the sex trade, smuggling, boozing, drugging and gangsterism are once again flourishing alongside ordinary people living mostly ordinary lives.

This Robin has money and a mission. She offers to pay Mr. Rohr to help her find her brother, one Shawn. In short order, bullets are flying, bodies are dropping and Rohr and Antonucci are sort of on the run, traveling around Thailand, avoiding baddies, bullets and surveillance by assorted free-lance and organized villains. Along the way they collect Shawn’s wife, a Thai woman forced into prostitution due to her husband’s peccadilloes, her nephew and an old guy, somehow related to Pim, the wife.

Confused? There are a lot of major and minor characters to keep track of and Benoit needs all of his considerable skill to keep it all clear. He does that quite well and we are treated, as in all Benoit’s books so far to a travelogue, in this case, of seamier Thailand. It’s high adventure on the low side of life, from deadly urban confrontations to piracy and murder aboard ship. It’s a romp through one crisis after another, told in an engaging and fast style. The thing to remember is that nobody in this wide-ranging tale is exactly as he or she seems. There are lies and more lies and none of them are noble.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOBLE LIES (Action/Suspense-Mark Rohr-Thailand-Cont) – G+
Benoit, Charles – 3rd book
Poisoned Pen Press, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN:1590584503
First Sentence: What he needed was a knife.
*** 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.

[Papalodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thailand, tsunami,gangsters and pirates, cool.
Mrk, Robin, Pim, Jarin and the mystery guy were all good characters that moved this mystery along.
Even the bad guys were likable.
If you ever read about Anna and the king of Siam you'll feel comfortable learning thatlife in the back streets hasn't changed much since the 1860s.

[Lois Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Thai woman a little too "Wise Asian" (although I agreed with her); the hero a shade too gullible for someone with his background; the ending very tidily delivered with a bow.

Good narrator.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot of this book--someone takes advantage of a disaster to disappear--centers on an idea we have all considered. There are some satisfying plot twists and turns that caught me unaware.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. The characters don't stand out as much as the locations do - odd but it is expected of Benoit's books, he makes the locations come alive.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book with some interesting twists. I am not sure if I bought how naive Mark was, but then his hormones might have initially been clouding his judgement.