OK, so the name may not exactly roll right off the forked tongue, but that doesn’t mean the mild-mannered Clark Kent of a man isn’t worth rolling with — not if you wanna roll right through, over and beyond every punch ever thrown in your direction.

Sonchai is leuk kreung, or half-caste — spawn of a Bangkok whore and her long-gone G.I. lover — which gives him an inherent duality few single minds possess. Better yet, this Royal Thai Police detective also happens to be an arhat, or “worthy one,” a bona fide Buddhist saint in this lifetime.

Unfortunately for the bad guys, arhat alternately means “foe-destroyer,” and at that Detective Jitpleecheep is unequaled. No enemy is too formidable to vanquish, no case too convoluted to unpuzzle. The tricks of his trade — insight (he sees things), intuition (he follows his knows) and, yes, a hard-hued soft spot for beautiful bar girls.

Damrong was just such a beauty. Like many of Bangkok’s best bawdy house workers, she came from the paddy-poor province of Isaan, where the more alluring young girls are duty-bound to hit the big city to fend for their families. A house, a well, a water buffalo, even a sibling’s continuing education — these are some of the provisions Damrong provided.

Consequently, there’s no shame in being in The Game. This is what she did; this is how she did it. Period. And anyway, it’s only sex.

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