Dark magic and dark pasts haunt the characters in these short stories set in mysterious, exotic Thailand. Ghosts and spirits and the real-life terror of despair besiege the pages of
The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand, horror stories by award-winning writer and longtime Thailand resident Jim Algie. In these tales you'll meet:
- A photojournalist who is literally haunted by the images of everyone he ever failed or exploited while getting a story.
- A drug trafficker-turned-writer who confronts vulnerability in his hard-as-nails partner in crime.
- An executioner who explores the nature of violence in a painful search for loving kindness.
For these characters, the naturally lush, deeply spiritual, and excitingly urban Thailand that is there home is also a place full of demons, a place where desperation is another word for normal. Each story follows their attempts to push through and make sense of the many different shades of darkness.
The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand warps the boundaries between the conceivable and the bizarre, and proves that the surreal can seem very real indeed.
A resident of Thailand since 1992, travel writer (and one-time punk rocker, cable TV host, college DJ, and music journalist) Jim Algie taps into Thailand's ethos from a very unique perspective. He offers readers the best elements from the worlds of both supernatural and horror fiction.
Industry Reviews
"Many people write about Thailand these days, but very few have the depth and breadth of Jim Algie. With the persistence of a seasoned journalist and the skill of a born story-teller he takes us places and reveals truths that lesser authors cannot begin to match." #8212;John Burdett, author of Bangkok 8 blog
"Jim Algie's elegant, clean prose style delivers the cultural goods inside Southeast Asia with a great deal of wit and charm. These memorable stories spotlight the frontiers inhabited by the supernatural, backpackers, killers, legends, bar girl dreams, and customer nightmares. The stories map the boundary line between the Thais and the foreigners who live, work and die among them. And Algie has the talent to breathe fresh life and meaning into the conflicts that arise when the inevitable misunderstanding happens and a foreigner steps over the line." -Christopher G. Moore, author of the prize-winning Vincent Calvino mystery series
"The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand is perfect for those who want a fun crash course in the darker side of Thailand and its myths, superstitions and folklore. ...Phantom entertains as well as informs, and is a great paperback for holidaymakers or indeed anybody who seeks some substance behind the Thai smile. "-The Bangkok Post
"This book makes a welcome addition to the library of armchair travelers, especially those attuned to or drawn by the unusual, the exotic and the bizarre. A dashing and hard-to-put-down read, this volume is not for the faint of heart, however, for among its characters lie cannibals, dead children, brutal killers, and the continuing embodiment of fickle, cruel and unavoidable fate. Positively received by reviewers and fellow authors alike, Mr. Algie's work is thrilling, vibrant and temptingly entertaining. The reader is carried along both on the author's vivid and moody prose, and by the energetic pacing." -Examiner.com
"Thai expatriate Algie (Bizarre Thailand: Tails of Crime, Sex and Black Magic) reveals the seedy underbelly of his adopted country in this dark collection of erotically charged tales set in contemporary Bangkok and environs. Dispelling any doubt that Thai sex trade is flourishing, many of the stories describe how poverty and lack of education leave local women with no other way to earn a living. -Publishers Weekly
"Asian horror fiction is an expanding, yet still relatively unknown genre. Its rise follows the trend for Southeast Asia noir, and an increasing number of movies that use Bangkok's sultry streets as a backdrop for tales of crime and the supernatural. But Jim Algie's short-story collection, The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand, aims to go further, tapping into the deep vein of superstition that runs through Thai society and blurring the line between precarious reality and a disturbing dream world. [...] But The Phantom Lover is above all a horror show. Fans of the genre will be satisfied, while for everyone else the stories offer an authentic, illuminating and often unsettling ride through Thailand's underbelly." -South China Morning Post
"... often fiction is the only way to tell the truth about Thailand..." -The Phuket News
"The overall success of Phantom Lover cannot be denied, however. The book is at times intensely thought-provoking. What happens the rest of the time will guarantee every reader a few lost nights of sleep." -The Nation
