Picture of author.

Tom Vater

Autor(a) de The Cambodian Book of the Dead

14 Works 100 Membros 10 Críticas

About the Author

Image credit: Tom Vater in Laos, 2011

Séries

Obras por Tom Vater

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
German Empire
País (no mapa)
Germany
Locais de residência
Thailand
Ocupações
writer, journalist, scriptwriter
Organizações
Crime Wave Press

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Tom Vater writes non-fiction books and novels, documentary screenplays, travel guides and articles investigating cultural, social, environmental and political trends and oddities, predominantly with a focus on Asia. His articles have appeared in publications such as The Asia Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
He is the author of two crime novels, both currently available through Crime Wave Press (www.crimewavepress.com)
His book Sacred Skin (co-authored with photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat), the first English language title on Thailand’s sacred tattoos, has received more than 30 reviews and is a regional bestseller. He also co-authored The Most Secret Place on Earth, a feature documentary on the CIA’s largest ever covert operation, in 1960s Laos, which has been broadcast in more than twenty countries.
www.tomvater.com

Membros

Críticas

Wow talk about a dark book. Makes Apocalypse Now, look like a Disney cartoon. This is an outstanding story about a German private detective sent to Cambodia to find the son of a wrathful German family. The leftover bad guys of the Khmer Rouge doing what they did during the time of the killing fields will leave you shocked.
This is an excellent book.
 
Assinalado
zmagic69 | 3 outras críticas | Mar 31, 2023 |
The Man With The Golden Mind

Series: #2 Detective Maier Mysteries Trilogy

By, Tom Vater

Format Read: Ebook with EVIE App playback

How obtained: Part of a book tour for the book from Blackthorn Book Tours.

Book Summary:

Julia Rendel asks Maier to investigate the twenty-five year old murder of her father, an East German cultural attaché who was killed near a fabled CIA airbase in central Laos in 1976.

But before the detective can set off, his client is kidnapped right out of his arms. Maier follows Julia’s trail to the Laotian capital Vientiane, where he learns different parties, including his missing client are searching for a legendary CIA file crammed with Cold War secrets.

But the real prize is the file’s author, a man codenamed Weltmeister, a former US and Vietnamese spy and assassin no one has seen for a quarter century.

I recommend this book for ages 16+ due to the violence and sexual content.

From the trauma and excitement that was Cambodia. Tom Vater is back with my favorite Detective. This time Detective Maier is looking to solve a 25 year old murder case in Laos.

In true Tom Vater style nothing is as simple as it seems. Tom Vater knows how to keep you on your seat and weave a tale filled with twists and enough excitement that can keep you going on for multiple books all in one fast paced book.

Detective Maier keeps becoming more fleshed out in this second book of the series and we get the chance to learn more about his past and family tree as well as seeing him try to work out some “daddy issues” while trying to keep himself alive and mostly intact. Maier has the luck of the devil or maybe deep down enjoys the pressure of his cases and the beatings he gets himself into along with plenty of narrow escapes and some heartbreaking circumstances as retirement is an ugly work that might be slowly worming its way into him.

I enjoyed, as with every book I have read from Tom Vater, the history with the thrilling story all entwined together so seamlessly. If you have read the previous Detective Maier book you will definitely enjoy this one as the stakes raise a bit higher and old grievances are brought to light with the Detective dragged into it all. I am definitely hoping for at the very least some kind of Netflix series adaptation of this book series with each book covering a season. Let’s get on this. But at the very least pick up a copy of this book or the first in the series called “Cambodian Book of the Dead” and start reading this wonderful series or if you have read that already pick up this entry into the series.

I look forward to seeing how Detective Maier keeps changing and what other adventures and situations he ends up in.

I give this book, 5 lost appendages out of 5.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
teowarden | 2 outras críticas | Feb 10, 2022 |
Fans of noir fiction, spy stories, and faraway locations will enjoy The Man With the Golden Mind. Tom Vater combined his spectacular settings and witty analogies in a James Bond style tale of hunting for a superspy in Laos in 2002.

This is the second Detective Maier novel, but it’s a standalone book that can be enjoyed even if you haven’t read The Cambodian Book Of the Dead. The books depict unique cases that take place years apart in different Asian countries.

This mission sends German detective Maier to Laos by a client wanting an investigation into her father’s death. After the client is kidnapped, Maier heads to Laos to find her and complete his assignment. Once in Laos, Meier realizes that he’s there for a much bigger, farther reaching tangle of events spanning over decades.

Vater includes a number of ingredients typically found in James Bond thrillers, including larger-than-life villains, fabulous locations, beautiful mysterious women, and over-the-top death scenarios. He embraces the similarities by even calling out James Bond multiple times. It's always fun when a bad guy starts monologuing, and Vater embraces any chance for a juicy monologue. I’m a big fan of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels, and The Man With the Golden Mind is from the same mold.

The plot is rich and the characters delightfully eccentric that I don’t want to spoil the fun here by providing too many details. The best part is thinking that the story is over, only to realize that there is plenty left to be told. Now that I’ve finished the book, I can’t wait to read another book by Tom Vater.

Thanks to Blackthorn Book Tours for providing me a review copy of the book.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
life2reinvent | 2 outras críticas | Feb 4, 2022 |
TW: torture, murder

Tom Vater is an excellent noir writer, as he exhibits in The Cambodian Book of the Dead. Fans of the genre will appreciate his deftness, while newcomers can appreciate the way he draws his readers into his books like a spider collects prey in its web. Readers who enjoy reading Asian literature will find a compelling story but definitely not one for the faint of heart.

The story is set in Cambodia, where Detective Maier is sent to find the missing German heir of a coffee empire. Maier had been a war correspondent during the Khmer Rouge genocide in the mid-1970’s. Maier returns to Cambodia searching for Rolf and encounters the brutality and corruption that has emerged since the war ended. Will he successfully complete his mission? Will he even survive the mission?

What makes Vater’s writing addictive is how he draws a reader into his world. He says in 50 words what some writers say in 10. If he were to cut down his word count, the remaining story would be so dry it would turn to dust. You feel the booming of the nightclub speakers, smell whatever’s being smoked, and see nearby people struggling in his chaotically presented scene. He presents a vivid picture to readers even those who have never been to Cambodia, never tried to survive in a war zone, never been a detective.

Tom Vater won’t let you sit in the bleachers as he presents his tale - he grabs you and demands your attention to everything going on. The story is ugly, it’s cynical…and utterly riveting.

Thank you, Blackthorn Book Tours for providing a copy of this book.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
life2reinvent | 3 outras críticas | Jan 10, 2022 |

Estatísticas

Obras
14
Membros
100
Popularidade
#190,120
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Críticas
10
ISBN
29
Línguas
2

Tabelas & Gráficos