Since his literary debut in 1992, Vincent "Vinnie" Calvino, an expat Italian-Jewish attorney from New York, has been pursuing investigations on behalf of mostly foreign clients in Bangkok.
Canadian author Christopher G. Moore's latest installment in the Calvino series maintains the exotic Southeast Asian venue and lineup of regular characters, but adopts a webwork formula somewhat more complex than his previous books.
To escape a potentially life-threatening situation, Calvino is hustled out of Bangkok to a supposedly safe haven at Pattaya beach resort. Soon after checking into his hotel suite, however, he is startled to see a young woman from an upper-floor room plummet past his window on the way to the pavement below.