Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a Bangkok cop, a devout Buddhist, a former monk and part owner of a bar/brothel catering to the jaded tastes of the farang visitors to Asia's sin city. He straddles a fine karmic line, usually seeking the high road (and occasionally finding it) amid Bangkok's rampant corruption. John Burdett's sixth Bangkok thriller, The Bangkok Asset, finds the conflicted detective investigating rumors of a CIA-funded "superman," a sort of bionic man gifted with superhuman strength and speed. Sonchai's boss, the deliciously crooked Inspector Vikorn, provides only the barest minimum of intelligence data. Joining Sonchai is the winsome Inspector Krom, every bit an outsider as he is but without a doubt smoother around the edges. Together they journey to a remote jungle location in Cambodia, said to be a secret American compound for ex-soldiers who want to be—or need to be—off the grid, for reasons thus far undisclosed. The action is pretty much nonstop, and the characters continue to grow in complexity with each passing book. This is another atmospheric and suspenseful installment in one of the finest contemporary mystery series.

SNOW FALLING ON BODIES
Yorkshire Inspector Alan Banks is back, ably assisted by detectives Annie Cabbot and Winsome Jackman, in Peter Robinson's gripping new thriller, In the Dark Places. It's winter in England's north country; snow is falling, and highway accidents are rising. One crash in particular has captured the attention of the constabulary. Although there are two victims, only one was killed in the impact; the other had been dead for some time, chopped up and bagged for disposal at a meatpacking plant. How does this relate to the theft of a pricey tractor or to the bloodstains found on the concrete floor of a nearby disused airplane hangar? Before these questions can be answered, the body count starts to multiply, and sleepy Yorkshire becomes carnage central. Banks plays a less pivotal role as center stage goes instead to Cabbot and Jackman, with strong support from the rest of the department staff. This is nicely done and guaranteed to send new fans to Robinson's back catalog, which now numbers more than 20.

THE NEW WILD WEST
In the small town of Grimstad, North Dakota, 12-year-old Kyle Westergaard has long been written off as "slow"—not in any way disabled, but perhaps not the first boxcar across the bridge. He blends in as inoffensive background noise, unseen and unheard, and it's precisely because of his unobtrusiveness that he's able to retrieve a small bundle from an accident scene—a package that turns out to be stuffed full of banknotes and baggies of unidentified white powder. Grimstad has turned into something of a boomtown, with the discovery of oil bringing with it a host of big-city issues, the aforementioned white powder among them. Kyle is on a collision course with detective Cassie Dewell, a recent addition to the Grimstad Sheriff's Department. Badlands marks Dewell's second appearance following 2013's The Highway. It's an Old West tale for the modern era, and the woman wearing the badge may be seriously out of her depth—or maybe not. C.J. Box's latest thriller burnishes his reputation as the dean of contemporary Western suspense.

TOP PICK IN MYSTERY
I made the erroneous assumption that Vietnam-born Vu Tran's debut novel, Dragonfish, would be set in an exotic Southeast Asian locale, and I was a tiny bit disappointed to find that the exotic locales would be Oakland, California, and Las Vegas. But I quickly forgot my disappointment after discovering that Tran's characters are a motley crew equal to anything ever dreamed up by Elmore Leonard or James Crumley. Robert is a cop and an abusive ex-husband, divorced from enigmatic Suzy, a Vietnamese refugee. Suzy has remarried, this time to an equally abusive Vietnamese-American crook named Sonny. Now Suzy has disappeared, and Sonny wants Robert to find her. Understandably, Robert is reluctant to perform this service, but Sonny can be very persuasive—and not in a good way. Robert soon discovers he might as well be chasing smoke, for Suzy's entire existence is shrouded in mystery the likes of which he has never known as a cop, and never suspected throughout the arc of their marriage. If you like your suspense with a literary edge, as with Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, look no further than Dragonfish.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The small North Dakota town where 12-year-old Kyle lives with his mother is booming, thanks to the discovery of oil nearby. But oil money means drug money, which means gangs. No one's more aware of that than Cassie Dewell, the new deputy sheriff, who's been running into body parts clearly placed to shake her. Meanwhile, Kyle, who may be considered slow by the townsfolk but who really wants to help his mom, pins his hopes on a package, left behind after a car wreck, that his mom's boyfriend says will make their fortune. The author of the award-winning Joe Pickett series does something different; with a one-day laydown on July 28 and a 200,000-copy first printing.

After the events of 2014's The Highway, Cassie Dewell leaves behind dark memories of Montana, the death of her partner, and the escape of the mass murderer known as the Lizard King, to take a new job as a special investigator in the Grimstad, ND, police department. Thanks to hydraulic fracture drilling, or fracking, Grimstad has been transformed into an oil boomtown with the social problems of any large city. Cassie is quickly embroiled in the investigation of a car crash, drugs, a gang war, and corrupt police officers. It is her job to determine how all these are tied together and what part a 12-year-old special-needs boy named Kyle plays in the tangled story. Cassie's keen observations, nerves of steel, and Kyle's bravery solve the mystery and bring a new beginning for both Cassie and Kyle. As for the Lizard King, the hunt continues. Keep an eye open out there. VERDICT Fracking brings new energy to the surface, and Box does the same with another intriguing character whom Joe Pickett fans will want to know better. Suspenseful—you can't put it down. [See Prepub Alert, 2/2/15; 250,000-copy printing; library marketing.]—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Edgar-winner Box's superior thriller carries some characters and themes over from his two previous standalones, The Highway and Back of Beyond, as investigator Cassie Dewell relocates to North Dakota's boomtown oil fields. In the subzero prairie, the little town of Grimstad is bursting with thousands of roughnecks, its infrastructure and law enforcement system are almost overwhelmed, and ruthless drug dealers are flocking to a wide-open new frontier. Cassie arrives just as a series of brutal murders signals a war between drug gangs—although the missing duffle bag the criminals are searching for has accidentally wound up in the hands of a special-needs paperboy, 12-year-old Kyle Westergaard. Kyle just wants a stable home life, but his possession of the bag full of drugs and money sets off more violent deaths. The story's brisk action is broken into alternating sections as Cassie and Kyle try to figure out what's going on and what they must do. The vulnerable boy's plight gives emotional heft to the criminal investigation, balancing cynicism with warm empathy. 250,000 first printing; author tour. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (July)