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Philippine Fever

by Bruce Cook

The talented Bruce Cook, author of a number of screenplays and teacher of the subsequently famous, has written his first murder-mystery novel: Philippine Fever. Dr. Bruce Cook has degrees in mathematics and physics, an individual you'd expect to produce dry, uninteresting prose, but that certainly isn't so in this case. Philippine Fever keeps you hopping like a bug in a hot frying pan, and doesn't let go until you've reached the end, scorched and done. Mr. Cook obviously has many sides, and his creative talent shows in each one. Philippine Fever demonstrates his thorough knowledge of that area, going far beyond anything familiar to tourists.

Philippine Fever starts right off in a Filipino morgue, where the latest murder victim is found. The victim's name was Harv Tucker, who specialized in selling fighting game cocks in the Manila area, then using that money to buy and sell arms to various paramilitary organizations. Sam Haine, an American Homeland Security Agent, is sent to Manila to intercept the firearms dealer. He finds himself caught up in the search for the murdered man's killer as well.

Detective Bogie (he's a great fan of old Bogart movies) Lorenzano is assigned to the Tucker case with Sam's assistance. Gradually Japanese and Chinese people as well as Filipinos are seen as part of the web, especially a Japanese man known as Mr. Nosaka. Other characters – all tied in to the former gun runner – include Juan Samoa, who claims he's an American CIA man but also part-owner of a suspicious sex club, a Philippine congressman named Sonny Lagos, Olivia, a Mama-san (owner of prostitutes), Chito, Riffat, Gerard – all important and all equally disposable after completing their part of the scheme.

Jennifer Santos, the Fiscal, becomes Agent Haines love attraction, thus providing the sub-plot, and an exploration of Manila that Sam may have otherwise missed… There's vicious torture, more murders, greed masquerading as poverty relief, and before he's commanded to return ASAP to the states, Sam has been exposed to almost all the ugly criminal underbelly of Manila. The primary baddies are finally caught – some killed by their own criminal cohorts and others brought to justice, with the last pages of the book devoted to the rapport between Jennifer and Sam.

Bruce Cook has written a real thriller with Philippine Fever. Parts of the book are descriptive enough to warn off those with weak stomachs when certain tortures are detailed, but this novel is also explicit in other ways, and good enough to read anyhow (you can always gloss over the sections making you squeamish). Mr. Cook, initial book or not, can be placed among the masters when it comes to who's who in the murder-mystery genre.

Alan Paul Curtis

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