Monday, September 8, 2014

Lost Innocence: Breaking Point (part two) (Tales from Land of Smiles Book 1)

This is the blurb and my review for part 2 of Simon Palmer's Lost Innocence: Breaking Point.


Continued from part one. Michael, an artist charged with a crime he claims he didn’t commit, and John, a self-confessed heroin smuggler, are brought together in the primitive and over-crowded prison infamously known as the BANGKOK HILTON. Michael fights for his freedom, while John, resigned to his fate, wants only to regain his dignity. Michael's grandfather, a once brilliant lawyer, is brought out of retirement and flies to Bangkok to fight a case in a city where justice is bought and sold to the highest bidder and corruption is the oil that greases the wheels in the Land of Smiles.

Running out of time and unable to find the only witness, he searches for another way to succeed in what seems a hopeless case.

Meanwhile, in order to survive the most appalling conditions in jail, Michael and John must make the best of a dire situation as they wait for their separate fates to be decided. Will justice be served or will they see out the next ten years in that hell-hole of a prison? 

5 out of 5 stars!
Picking up where part one left off you don't want to miss these books! Simon is a master at building characters, and the environments they are traveling through. When we last saw Michael he was still holding to not paying to get out of the "Bangkok Hilton" for a crime he didn't commit. And while that is an admirable stance, in Thailand it is a very dangerous stance as well.
Michael's grandfather is a retired lawyer in England, but comes out of retirement to save his grandson, after his father has had an accident.
What will Michael and his cell mate, John, do to endure the time they are spending in prison? Will Michael be able to be saved before the corrupt officials have there way?
You will have to read to see the fantastic ending of this story. I love that there is a hint that more could come in this series, it certainly deserves praise!
Lost Innocence: Breaking Point BUY LINK

Here is the blurb and my review for part one as well.

Michael, an artist charged with a crime he claims he didn’t commit, and John, a self-confessed heroin smuggler, are brought together in the primitive and over-crowded prison infamously known as the BANGKOK HILTON. Michael fights for his freedom, while John, resigned to his fate, wants only to regain his dignity. Michael's grandfather, a once brilliant lawyer, is brought out of retirement and flies to Bangkok to fight a case in a city where justice is bought and sold to the highest bidder and corruption is the oil that greases the wheels in the Land of Smiles.

Running out of time and unable to find the only witness, he searches for another way to succeed in what seems a hopeless case.

Meanwhile, in order to survive the most appalling conditions in jail, Michael and John must make the best of a dire situation as they wait for their separate fates to be decided. Will justice be served or will they see out the next ten years in that hell-hole of a prison? 
5 out of 5 stars!
I have to say for a book out of my usual genre, this one kept me hooked from the first page.
Michael is in Thailand to flex his artistic muscles and draw whomever he finds. That lands him in the middle of being accused of a crime he didn't commit. What helped this story take off, is that I have heard of some of the things that go on in Thailand and have seen shows about the "Bangkok Hilton", that is one scary place and Mr. Palmer did a fantastic job of describing how a place looked and what people looked like so I got a very clear image of each person in the book.
When Michael refuses to take a pay off deal, he meets John. John is from Australia and charged with drug smuggling. The two form a strange bond over being in prison.
When people arrive to help Michael out, they learn that he is not prepared to take the easy route.
Frustration, concern, the surprising touching moments in the book just wrapped it all up in an awesome little package for me!
I cannot wait for part 2!

Lost Innocence: Accused BUY LINK

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