Dick Holzhaus

Metaphors of Death Dick Holzhaus

How does a de-railed journalist become the number one enemy of the invisible powers that run one of Asia's hippest cities? Tom Terrence lives inside the expat bubble of losers, dreamers and pensioners. He combats the ghosts of his past with drugs, alcohol and his nemesis: an unfinished manuscript. His life is going downhill nicely until he gets an unexpected promotion to editor-in-chief of an online newspaper which throws his life into further chaos as he tumbles into his first major story. When local police blame the death of three tourists on poisoned drugs taken during a strange sexual ritual, the BBC joins local news crews in covering the story. Tom is quickly recruited as their local expert and interpreter as they link the death of a high ranking police officer to the deceased tourists. The crew's dogged search for the connections and the source of the poisoned drugs ignites a cat and mouse game between the BBC and the overlords of the Asian drug trafficking underworld, with Tom caught dangerously between them. A perilous roller coaster ride of murder and deception takes Tom through Northern Thailand into the Burmese jungle, forcing him to make some life and death decisions.